


Chains of the Heart

by Erik_In_CT



Series: Affairs of the Heart [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erik_In_CT/pseuds/Erik_In_CT
Summary: Sequel to "Protect My Heart". Set six months after the events of "Protect My Heart", our heroes and heroines find themselves on a new adventure as the forces of darkness once again threaten their happiness.
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Pepper Potts, Tony Stark/Bella Swan
Series: Affairs of the Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900063
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

Silence filled the moonlit forest around the two pale figures, even the ever-present buzzing of insects amongst the foliage having been silenced. It was as if nature itself was aware of the deadly, unearthly presence in its midst. The whisper of leaves rustling as the couple swept past was the only noise that could be heard. Dark eyes met, silently conferring before sliding away from each other. The thrill of the hunt was exhilarating. With a swiftness that was impossible to see, the lithe figure of one of the pair swept past the damp trees, darting into the clearing where a large doe was grazing near a pond. She barely had time to react to the danger she suddenly sensed before she was taken down, black eyes losing their light in mere moments.

 _It's never enough,_ the red-haired woman mused as she looked down at the fallen deer, the gaping tear across its throat showing nothing of the life's fluid as it should have done. Instead that essence stained the lips of the predator, who silently thanked the animal for her life. Then her attention was diverted as she heard movement beside her, and she crouched automatically into a defensive stance.

"Very nice Virginia," her bronze-haired partner said as she rose from her crouch. Reaching out a pale hand, he gently trailed his fingers across her blood stained lips before drawing them back and flicking his tongue over them. She half smiled at him, scarlet eyes following the movements of his hand with a hungry expression. "You know," he continued as he watched her, "you might just rival Carlisle with your compassion. I don't think he even thanks the animal he takes. At least not quite as passionately as you."

"It seems right," she replied as she turned away from the fallen animal, walking at a more normal speed across the small clearing. Winter's chill was just beginning to settle in, though she didn't feel the cold as she used to, despite the lightness of her clothing. It had only been a handful of months, six actually, since she had joined her new family, but Virginia (sometimes known as "Pepper") Potts was beginning to get used to her new life. Reaching the edge of the pond, she gazed down into the dark water, looking at her reflection. So different, and yet the same. Skin that had been pale before had become even more so. And her strawberry hair had only become more vibrant since the change. But it was the eyes that still bothered her. Lingering somewhere between scarlet and dark gold, they were immensely different than the green she was used to see gazing out at her from her reflection.

She watched as the mirror image of her companion appeared beside her. "Edward," she said, "does it ever stop?" She turned her eyes from the water to face him. "The constant burning for...for blood?" She had suffered the aching thirst nonstop it had seemed, sometimes she was able to push it to the back of her thoughts when she concentrated on other things, but it was difficult.

"It will calm down," he told her, memories of his own first few months as a vampire allowing him to empathize with her. "It's hard now, but it will become easier with time."

"So you keep telling me," she replied with a sigh. Then she banished the lingering fears and worries from her thoughts. "I think I'm ready to go home," she said, turning and dashing across the clearing and into the forest. After a moment, she heard Edward running along beside her as they made their way back to the large mountain home the family had taken up residence in.


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn't believe he was actually laughing, but he was. Edward watched with a smile on his pale face as Pepper bounded through the trees, dashing up to the tops of the branches before falling gracefully back to the forest floor and dashing off again. Even after six months of adjusting to her new life, she still took an almost childish delight in the new abilities afforded to her by her vampiric nature. And her antics often brought the laughter bubbling up from within him, when he had thought it had long ago died.

"Are you laughing at me?" Pepper asked, turning her pale face towards him. He quickly stifled his chuckles as he sprinted over to where she was standing, her hands on her hips, and a slightly reproachful expression on her face.

"Of course not," Edward said, reaching a hand up to pull out a leaf that had gotten tangled in her strawberry locks, cold fingers sliding through her silky hair.

"Liar," she said, but smiled at him anyway. Edward unwillingly found himself falling into that smile more and more. For the last half a year he had been fighting against the pull of happiness that had centered around this woman, for a reason he didn't even know. Perhaps he shouldn't fight so hard. Was it wrong to want to feel that happiness that everyone else in his family had found? It felt like a betrayal somehow, though he knew it was ridiculous to feel that way. But he had pledged his love before, and had sworn he wouldn't love another. But hadn't she moved on herself? And he had accepted it. So why couldn't he move on as well?

"You're just so cute, dashing up and down and all around like you do. It's an oddly endearing action.," he said as he drew himself out of his thoughts. He smiled at her and reached down, taking her hand and twining his fingers around hers. "Come on, let's get home."

As they approached the house where his family had moved to after Pepper's turning, Edward picked up the faint trace of a very familiar scent on the wind. Reaching out with his mind, he found the thoughts of his family and heard the warning from his 'father'. His hand still clutching Pepper's, he pulled her to a stop a few hundred yards away from the house. She turned to him, a confused expression on her face. "Bella is at the house," he said in explanation. He turned golden eyes up to meet hers. "How's your thirst? Will you be alright going into the house with her there?"

Pepper was silent for a moment, but then nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. I've hunted well tonight with you, and it's not so bad right now." She smiled and began walking towards the house at a more normal pace. "Do you know what she's doing here?"

"No," Edward replied, not having picked up the reason for Bella's visit from his family. It wasn't the first time she had come out to visit since they had moved only a few hours from where she was currently living in Malibu. More often than not it was to see how Pepper was doing, both for herself and for her new boyfriend, Tony. Tony had been very worried at Pepper at first, having had a close working relationship with the woman for several years. "Why don't we go see?"

"Let's," Pepper replied, hurrying her pace.

***

Soon they were entering the large house, moving automatically towards the spacious living room that served as the main gathering area for the family. When he entered the room, Edward immediately saw Bella sitting on the large couch that Esme had picked out for the room, his 'mother' and Alice sitting on either side of her. Bella herself seemed slightly distraught, and Edward became worried. Then she looked up and caught his eye, and he noticed the redness in hers.

"What's wrong Bella?" Edward asked, moving towards her and dropping down to kneel in front of her, looking up into her tear streaked face. He heard Pepper move to beside him, lowering herself to sit next to Esme. "Did something happen?"

Bella blinked back the wetness in her eyes, her hand rising to brush against her cheeks. Alice squeezed her shoulders gently. "It's Tony," she said quietly, eyes turning down towards the carpet. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"What's he done?" Pepper asked, and Edward glanced over at her, noticing the concerned expression on her face. He understood it. Not only was Bella her friend, but Tony also held a place in her heart.

"He's just keeps getting sicker and sicker. He tries not to show it, but I can tell. And Jarvis keeps me up to date. But he won't let me help him at all. He almost never goes into the office anymore." Bella sniffed back tears again, her hand shaking as fingers curled into the fabric of her jeans. "And now he's drinking more than he used to. Enough to make him noticeably drunk. I just had to get out of there for a while. So I came here."

"And you're welcome to stay as long as you need to dear," Esme said, her gentle hands smoothing down Bella's chocolate hair.

A weak smile formed on Bella's lips as she glanced at her adoptive mother. "Thanks Esme. I really don't want to be in the way."

"You are never in the way," Edward said, and both Alice and Pepper instantly voiced their agreement.

"Come on," Alice said, taking Bella's hand and pulling her to her feet. "I'll find you something comfortable to wear, and you should get some sleep."

Edward watched as Alice led Bella up the stairs to her bedroom, a frown forming on his face. Shifting up he sat on the sofa next to Pepper. "It has to have gotten pretty bad for Bella to come running out here."

"I swear!" Pepper burst out, hopping to her feet. "That man can be so blindly stubborn it's infuriating! But there is no excuse for him to make Bella so upset. I am quite tempted to run down to Los Angeles right now and give him a good smack across the face and knock some sense back into him."

"Calm down Pepper," Edward said, standing and resting his hands on her shoulders.

"I know him better than anyone," Pepper said. "I know how to deal with him when he gets into his moods."

"Bella needs you here right now," Edward said. "She needs the comfort of her friends. I'll go talk to Tony." He saw Pepper regard him carefully, her desire to go see Tony still quite evident in her eyes. "Please Pepper," he said. "Stay here and take care of Bella."

"Oh alright," she said. "But you tell Tony Stark that if he doesn't fix this, that I will personally come down there and kick his ass. And he knows I can do it now." With that, she turned and headed up the stairs to find Alice and Bella.

Edward turned and looked over to Esme. "I'll be back in a few hours," he said before moving towards the door.

"Edward," a new voice said quietly, and Edward turned to find Carlisle walking towards him. "Don't go in with anger on Bella's behalf. It will get you nowhere with him."

"I know Carlisle. Thanks." Edward managed a weak smile for Carlisle and Esme, then turned and left the house, breaking into a run as he made his way down towards the city.


	3. Chapter 3

Edward's mind was racing as fast as he was running over the uneven terrain, hurtling towards Los Angeles. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Tony when he got there, but he knew he couldn't just stay at the house and try to help comfort Bella. He had to try to do something to make things better. Luckily for the man, the run was doing much to calm down the towering inferno of rage that he had first felt when he saw Bella's tears. Tears that she had shed because of the pain dealt to her by a man that she loved. But Carlisle was right, if he went into the situation with anger, it would probably just make things worse. And a fight with the man is something he wanted to avoid, if only to keep from hurting Bella anymore than she was already hurt.

By the time he drew closer to the cliff side mansion that belonged to the millionaire in question, the sun was just beginning to make its appearance over the horizon. Luckily there wasn't much else around the house for a few miles, so he wasn't too worried about being seen. But as he neared the house, he realized that there wasn't anyone there, not even Tony himself. Damn, he thought as he made his way towards the front door. Well, he would see if he could find out where the man had gone, and perhaps wait for him to return. So he rapped his hand against the door, knowing that even though Tony wasn't home, there was someone there to answer him. And sure enough, he heard the intercom pop to life, and the softly accented voice of Jarvis, Tony's computer assistant, issuing from it.

"Good morning Mr. Cullen," Jarvis said as the door locks opened. "Please come in."

"Thanks," Edward said as he pushed open the door and made his way into the foyer of the large house. It was still a little odd to him, talking to the disembodied voice of Jarvis, but he was getting used to it.

"What can I do for you sir?"

"Where is Mr. Stark?" Edward asked, getting straight to the point. "I need to talk to him."

"Mr. Stark is not in at the moment, as I am sure you have already realized," Jarvis replied.

"When will he be back? I can wait."

"I am afraid I cannot be certain. He has gone to New York to oversee the opening ceremonies of the Stark Expo."

Damn again, Edward thought with a mental sigh.

"Is it correct to assume that your presence has to do with the distressed state that Miss Bella was in when she left last night?" Jarvis inquired. Edward wasn't sure, but it almost seemed as if he could detect a note of concern in the scarily human voice of the computer. Sometimes he wondered just how much of Jarvis was a computer, and how much was more human-like.

"It has everything to do with it," he said as he moved into the main part of the house, dropping onto the lavish sofa, his hand moving to brush his hair back. "She showed up at our home last night. She was trying very hard not to break down, but I could see how badly she's hurting."

"Mr. Stark does not mean to cause her such pain." Jarvis said. "He is a proud man, and does not want to admit that even he sometimes requires the assistance of others."

"Tell me honestly, how bad is it really Jarvis?"

It seemed as if there was a hesitation in the system, as if Jarvis was trying to decide how much he should share. Of course Edward already knew of Tony's 'illness', having witnessed the man collapse on one of their first encounters. Finally he responded, "It is growing worse. The palladium toxicity in his blood is increasing steadily, even more so with the continued use of the Iron Man armor."

"Bella said he was drinking?"

"Yes. It is his coping mechanism. Although it does not help him in any fashion. And the situations that arise from it only serve to further complicate the situation."

"Obviously," Edward replied. "It's worrying Bella so much. I hate to see her in that state. Is there anything that can be done? Perhaps Carlisle could come down and try to help work out a solution."

"I do not believe it would be any help," Jarvis said. "This is not a conventional medical condition. Mr. Stark is working on the problem, but so far has not had any success in locating an acceptable solution."

"I see," Edward said as he stood and began pacing the room. "I'm going to head back to the house for now. Will you call me when Tony is on his way home? I'd like to speak with him myself. Until then, I'm going to insist that Bella stay with us."

"Of course Mr. Cullen," Jarvis replied. "Before you leave, may I inquire as to how Ms. Potts is faring?"

"She's well Jarvis," Edward said, a small smile creeping onto his lips despite his mood. "She's adapting to her new life quite easily. And I'm sure she'll be glad to know that you were asking after her."

"Thank you," the computer replied. "Good day to you, Mr. Cullen."

"And you," Edward said as he made his way to the front door, heading back off towards his mountain home.

***

Jarvis may be a computer system, but he was a very complex computer system. Over the years since Mr. Stark had first begun programming him, he had grown to a point where it seemed as if he were more than a mere collection of wires and code. One might say it was impossible for a machine to have feelings, and perhaps they were right, but the programs created and modified by both human and computer gave at least the appearance of emotion and personality. Mr. Stark had begun to regard him as more than a machine. As well as Ms. Bella. And certainly the regard in which he held both his creator and the woman the man had fallen in love with was something that had not been programmed into him.

As the vampire left the house, Jarvis locked down the home once again, and retreated to his domain within the house systems. Even though Mr. Stark was not at home currently, there was still plenty of work for the artificial intelligence system to do. His first priority was continuing research on possible solutions to Mr. Stark's illness, but even that only took up a fraction of his abilities. And so he contemplated the visit and conversation that had just occurred. Had it been appropriate to share with the vampire the information that he had? He believed so. Mr. Cullen already knew of the situation, and his close relationship with Ms. Bella drew him into the inner circle. Yes, it had been an acceptable action to speak with the boy.

Dismissing the concern over the discussion with Mr. Cullen, Jarvis turned his attention to another task. Perfecting a new version of the Iron Man suit that Mr. Stark had been designing. It was less impressive than the normal armor, but it was designed to be more compact, with an independent assembly unit. Something that could be traveled with. Mr. Stark was fondly referring to it as the 'suitcase suit'. While the computer would recommend against prolonged use of the armor, he knew that it was at times necessary. And Mr. Stark would be upset if the machining was not completed by the time he returned from his trip. And so the computer began dividing tasks amongst the robots in the lab, the sound of industry filling the silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony Stark felt like shit. Not just physically, though that was definitely part of it. But his emotions were all over the place as well. He knew it was probably his fault. Alright, so maybe not 'probably'. It was his fault. He was spiraling downwards at an increasingly alarming rate, and it had resulted in some rather nasty behavior. He cringed mentally as he remembered the fight he had had with Bella just before he had left for New York just a day or two earlier. He hated seeing the hurt look in her eyes and knowing that he had caused it. And he wasn't sure how to fix it. She had stormed out of the house in a rage, probably headed up to the Cullen's place.

And now on top of all of that, he had that damned Senate committee on his ass about turning over his armor for the military to use. He had just finished with what was, in his opinion, a very successful demonstration at the committee hearing, was now on his way back home. He wondered whether or not Bella would be back at the house when he got there. He sighed as he glanced out of the window of the jet, watching the terrain pass below. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't hurt her, that he would banish the pain and hurt that had been evident in her eyes when they had first met. And yet he had just caused even more. What kind of love was that? He did love her, he knew that. The way he felt about the clumsy, beautiful, intelligent young woman was something he had never really felt before. He liked it...and yet he was ruining it. He would fix it. He was good at fixing things.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed the number that would connect him with Jarvis at the house. After a moment, the A.I. responded. "Good afternoon Mr. Stark," he said.

"Hey Jarvis," Tony said. "Is Bella home?"

"No sir, she has not returned."

 _Damn._ "Do you know where she is?"

"I believe she is at Mr. Cullen's home at present."

"Yeah, probably. Thanks Jarvis."

"You really should apologize to her," Jarvis said unexpectedly. "She is very upset."

"Yeah, I know," was all he said before hanging up. Tony was only slightly surprised by Jarvis' remark. His A.I. had seemed to have grown almost as fond of Bella as Tony himself had. But he was right. He did need to apologize to her. He knew she only wanted to help him, but Tony wasn't the kind to accept help easily. He wasn't angry at her, not at all. Rather he was angry with himself for being so weak, for not being able to find an answer. The problem was when his anger with himself erupted and he lashed out at someone else. Or when he retreated to the bottle as he had been doing more and more as of late. He sighed as he ran his hand over his face. He'd really made a mess of things.

The comm system of the jet kicked on, breaking him from his thoughts as the pilot announced that they were on approach, and would be landing soon. No doubt Happy was already waiting for him with the car. He felt the angle change in the flight, and knew they'd be landing any moment. He needed to make a decision. As if there were any other choice. He had to go find Bella.

***

Happy dropped him off at the house, and left without much talk. The ex-boxer didn't know the truth about all that had happened a few months ago, about the Cullens…and Pepper. And so Tony had come home first, and was going to pick up one of his cars and head back out. But when he entered the workshop he found someone waiting for him. He cursed silently when he saw the bronze haired figure of Edward sitting at the desk. This was a conversation that he knew had the potential to become very ugly.

"Edward," he said with a nod towards the vampire.

"Stark."

Tony watched as the boy stood and slowly walked towards him. But he wasn't the type to be that easily intimidated, so he stood his ground as Edward drew close. "I already know what you're going to say," he said. "And I'm working on it."

"Are you reading minds now?" Edward asked, his lips quirking upwards slightly.

"Just had a feeling," Tony replied, shifting to walk around the vampire. He stiffened when he felt a cold hand wrap around his arm, and he turned back towards Edward, whose eyes were as cold and hard as the fingers that gripped him.

"She's hurting," the boy said, his voice low. "Bad. I don't know what's been going on here, but something needs to change."

Tony paused for a moment, biting back the smart ass remark that had immediately tripped on his tongue. From the quirk of Edward's lips, he knew the boy had read it in his thoughts. "I know, Edward," he said instead. "I was actually going to drive up there right now to talk to her."

The cold fingers released his arm, and Edward moved slightly away. "Good. I'll drive with you."

 _Great._ Tony thought as he moved towards the rack that held the sets of car keys for his collection, grabbing up the keys to the Audi R8 Spyder, his newest favorite car.


	5. Chapter 5

It was probably one of the longest car rides Tony had ever experienced. The six hour drive from his home in Malibu to the Cullen's mountain home in Northern California felt at least twice as long with the near silent presence of Edward in the car. And dammit if it wasn't made more uncomfortable by the fact that even his thoughts weren't safe around the vampire. Occasionally Edward would comment on something Tony hadn't even said, and it was drawing on his nerves more and more. At this rate, he would be in a foul mood when they arrived, and that was something he wanted to avoid.

"Pull over," Edward said, breaking into his thoughts, and Tony glanced over at him in surprise before pulling the car over to a stop on the side of the road.

"Why?"

"We're about an hour away, I figured I'd run the rest of the way and let you think in peace, as it seems to be causing you a bit of stress." Edward smirked knowingly as he opened the car door, climbing out.

_Thank God,_ Tony thought, ignoring Edward's chuckle. "Thanks. I'll see you there." As soon as Edward shut the door, Tony pulled back out onto the road, hitting the gas and speeding off. No doubt despite his speed, Edward would beat him back, but that was fine. At least he had some time to actually figure out what he was going to do, was going to say, when he arrived without the annoying vampire listening to his every thought.

What was he going to say? Somehow 'I'm sorry' didn't really seem to cut it. But he couldn't think of what else there was to say. He wasn't exactly used to dealing with these kind of situations. _Heh, that's quite an understatement,_ he thought.

He thought back to a few days ago when he had last seen Bella. He had snapped at her quite harshly, and all she had done was ask how he was feeling. But it had come after another set of fruitless hours of research and experimenting, and a few glasses of scotch. Tony slammed his hand down against the steering wheel as he remembered the hurt look in her eyes before she snapped back at him and stormed upstairs. He hadn't even said a word to her, or even acknowledged her, as she appeared back downstairs with an overnight bag, grabbed the keys to one of the cars and left. And that had only been the last in a string of growing confrontations. But it had been the first time she had actually left the house afterwards.

He sighed as he found the turnoff that led up into the forested hills. He'd just have to play it by ear, and hope he didn't screw this up anymore than he already had.

***

Edward watched as Tony sped off, then he turned and began running. He would make it back to the house before Tony got there, at least by half an hour. Which was good. He wanted to warn the family that Tony was on his way, if Alice hadn't already. And he wanted to warn Bella ahead of time. She should have the choice of whether or not she wanted to see him just yet. Though he doubted she would refuse to see him. She really had fallen in love with the man, and it wasn't in her nature to deny him the chance to apologize.

He could see what had finally driven Bella to leave and come up to their home. All during the ride, Tony had been reflecting on the arguments and harsh words the two of them had traded over the last few weeks. At least Tony seemed to be sincerely sorry for the pain he had caused.

Through the trees ahead he could see their home, and immediately noticed Pepper sitting on the porch, no doubt awaiting his return. He slowed as he approached, dropping to a steady walk as he mounted the stairs leading up with the front of the house.

"Well?" Pepper asked, her arms folded gracefully across her chest.

"Tony's on his way here now, should be here in less than an hour," he replied. He glanced towards the door of the house, then back at the woman next to him. "I'm going to let Bella know he's coming, so she can decide if she wants to see him or not."

"She will," Pepper replied. "She might be angry with him, but she'll talk to him. But I get him first," she said with a smirk.

"You are the expert when it comes to Stark," Edward replied with a quirk of his lips.

"After all the years I spent dealing with his craziness, you bet I am," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Go see to Bella," she added, giving him a light shove towards the door of the house.

"Yes ma'am," Edward said with a mock bow before heading inside.

Scanning the house, he made his way towards Carlisle's study, finding his pseudo-father talking with Bella.

"Edward, please come in," Carlisle said, gesturing for him to join them.

"You went to see him, didn't you?" Bella asked, turning her eyes towards him as he sat down.

"I did, yes," Edward replied. "Don't worry, I didn't go beat him up or anything," he added after seeing the pensive look she shot him. "We just talked. But I wanted to warn you that he's on his way here to see you." Bella sighed, her eyes turning towards the carpet at her feet.

Carlisle reached a hand out, laying it gently on the girl's shoulder. "You don't have to see him if you don't want to though," Carlisle said. "The decision is yours."

Bella smiled sadly up at Carlisle. "No, no. I should talk to him," she replied. "I just don't know what to say. For a while, everything was amazing, but then he just started getting more and more withdrawn. He's been so different lately. I just don't know how to talk to him anymore."

"I know he hurt you Bella, but I also know he hates that he has done so," Edward said. "He was thinking of little else during the drive here."

Straightening her shoulders, Bella stood. "Thank you for everything Carlisle," she said, leaning over to give the blonde vampire a light hug and a small smile.

"My pleasure Bella," Carlisle said, returning her embrace for a moment before allowing her to pull away. "You know that you are like a daughter to me. We will always be here for you if you need us."

"I know, thank you," she said. "And thank you Edward," she added, giving him a small hug as well. Then she turned and left the room.

"Is it really that bad?" Carlisle asked him as they watched Bella leave the room.

"It's getting to be," Edward replied with a sigh.

***

_**Meanwhile…somewhere in Russia:** _

Crackled laughter erupted from the burly, tattooed man who was bending over his workstation. The room around him, walls plastered with magazine and newspaper clippings, was flooded with a pulsing blue light that was emanating from the metal disc he held in his hands.


	6. Chapter 6

_This is not going to be good,_ Tony thought as he drove up to the large house that was the home of the Cullen family, and saw Pepper standing on the porch, her arms crossed over her chest. He'd seen that posture often enough to know that he was in for a good verbal spanking. _Not that I don't deserve it,_ he mused. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he switched off the car and stepped out. Putting on his most charming smirk, he mounted the steps to the front of the house. "Looking good Potts," he said, taking a moment to readjust to the changes in Pepper's appearance. She had always been a beautiful woman, but she was even more so now, and just a little bit frightening as well.

"Don't you give me that Tony Stark," she said, her voice hard, but still ringing bell-like. She stalked right up to him, and it took a great amount of self-control for Tony to not back away from her as his instincts were yelling at him to do. "What in the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused, or do you just not care? I know it's a foreign concept to you that other people just might have feelings that you can affect, but you really need to straighten up your act and realize that what you do, or don't do, can hurt other people." As she ranted at him, Tony could swear the red of her eyes, and that was something else he couldn’t quite get used to, began to glow with an inner fire.

Tony waited for the rant to stop, knowing he'd never get a word in edgewise. When it seemed she had stopped speaking, and was waiting for some kind of response from him, he slowly reached his hands out, laying them on her shoulders, fighting off the flinch that her cold skin caused. "I know Pepper. That's why I'm here. To fix things."

"Well you better do a hell of a job of it," she said, shrugging off his hands and backing up a few steps as she visibly controlled her anger. "Because I'm about three seconds away from kicking your sorry ass all the way back to Los Angeles if you don't..."

"Pepper..." Tony heard a quiet voice from behind him. He took a slow breath, then turned, watching as Bella stepped out of the front door of the house onto the porch. Even a self-absorbed ass like him could see the wariness and pain in the young woman's eyes, and he felt a stab of guilt at causing it.

"Ugh," he heard Pepper exclaim as she stalked past them both and into the house. She was probably upset that her rant had been cut short, and he was sure that he would probably have to hear the rest of it later, but right now he didn't care.

"Hey Bella," he said with a sad quirk of his lips. He began to move towards her, but faltered in his stop, unsure of the welcome he’d receive.

"Hey," she said quietly. Glancing back at the house, she turned and started down the steps. "Let's take a walk. A little more private to talk."

"Sure," he said as he followed her down the stairs and onto a small path leading into the woods around the house.

For a few minutes there was only silence, and Tony hesitated to break it. He wasn't exactly sure he could trust the words that might come from him if he tried to speak. But this silence as they walked was starting to weigh upon him, and he felt the stirrings of a crushing despair that he had only known once before in his life.

When it reached a point that he almost couldn't stand it any more, Bella stopped her slow walking, turning to face him. Her arms were folding defensively across her chest, and her dark eyes were sad. Tony yearned to close the few steps separating them and take her in his arms, promising her anything she asked for. He had once promised himself to take the hurt look from her eyes and banish it for good, but here he was no, the cause of it.

"Bella...I," he began, his hands splayed out to his side.

She forestalled his words by raising her hand slightly. "Tony...please don't say you're sorry. Sorry doesn't change things, it doesn't fix things." She sighed softly, her head turning to gaze off into the distance for a moment. "You hurt me," she said quietly, almost a whisper, "but I can't _not_ forgive you." Her chocolate eyes turned back to him, and the shimmer of tears were evident in their dark depths. "I love you Tony, more than I thought I could love someone. But I don't know what to do anymore. You're not the same man I fell in love with six months ago." She broke off, her arms tightening around herself.

Tony couldn't stand it any longer. Moving slowly, he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the young woman. His head dropped to bury against her dark hair. "I know I've screwed up Bella," he said after a moment. "I've pushed you away in more ways than one, and it's tearing me apart to know that I've done it." He pulled back enough to gaze down at her face, brushing his fingers along her chin to raise her eyes to meet his. "I'm a proud man, Bella, and it's not easy for me to open up, to let others in. And to ask for help, even when I so desperately need it." He brushed away a tear that was tracing down her cheek. "And I do need it Bella. I need help. I need you. Please don't give up on me, not yet."

He searched her eyes for some trace of her response. After a moment, she sighed, leaning up in his arms to press her lips against his briefly. “I won’t, Tony,” she said, her voice barely audible.  
For a few moments they stood in silence, Tony holding her close against his chest. It was moments like these that he wished he could just forget all of the past, forget his own worries and fears. To just be. To be a man that deserved this beautiful young woman that clung to him. Every once in a while he would try, but then his nature would reassert itself, and he would go back to his old habits. But once again, he resolved himself to trying.  
“Let’s go home, Tony.”


	7. Chapter 7

Bella still couldn't believe that she had let Tony talk her into this. All she really wanted to do was to go home and relax…to talk to Tony about everything that was going on. Reconnect. Instead he had talked her into this ridiculous trip. Though she supposed that was all part of his charm, the way he could do that. And so here she was on one of Tony's subspace planes headed halfway across the globe to attend some glamorous party with lots of cameras and reporters, to rub elbows with the elite of the world and watch the Monaco Grand Prix, which Tony had assured her was quite an event. While the car racing and the publicity wasn't really something she thought she'd enjoy, despite Tony's assurances, she had agreed to come with him because he had asked her to. And she had a sneaking feeling that he had something incredibly awesome, yet amazingly stupid planned.

And of course it didn't take long after their arrival before she was proven right. After enduring the onslaught of picture takers that always engulfed Tony when he made a public appearance, they made a short circuit of the dining hall where they would be seated to watch the race. Bella had turned her back for a moment, her attention distracted by the people around her, and when she turned back, Tony had disappeared. With a resigned sigh, she made her way to the table that had been assigned to her and took a seat.

"You should keep a leash on him," she heard a voice say, and she glanced up to see a business suit type with his arm around a tall blonde woman. The man grinned down at her in a way that made Bella shift slightly in her seat, uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well…easier said than done," she responded. The blonde woman accompanying the man smirked and muttered something under her breath. Bella hoped the man would leave her alone. Unfortunately he seemed to want to talk, pulling out a chair and sitting down without asking permission to join her.

"Justin Hammer," he said, extending his hand towards her.

She considered for a moment before taking his hand for a quick shake. The name rang a bell, but she couldn't quite place it. "Bella Swan," she said.

"Ah yes, of course, Tony's prodigy girl."

Bella blushed despite herself. She knew she had a certain talent for the field she had found herself in, helped immensely by Tony's tutorage, and she had been offered a very nice job at Stark Industries after her internship had ended, but a prodigy? She hardly considered herself one.

"Ah come on now, don't be modest," the man said, clapping a hand on her shoulder as if they were old friends. "I could use someone with your talents at Hammer Industries." He waggled his eyebrows in a completely unattractive manner. "Any way I can sneak you away from Tony?"

"I don't think so, no," Bella replied, raising her eyes to glance around the room for the man in question.

"Ah, well, too bad. If you ever change your mind…"

Bella looked up as the man trailed off, noticing his attention had been drawn to the TV screen behind her. Turning, she felt her heart jump to her throat as she saw Tony on the screen, dressed in a racing jumpsuit and climbing into the car bearing the Stark Industries logo. "What the…" she murmured. "Excuse me," she said to Hammer and his companion as she stood and made her way to the exit of the room. She was met there by the ever present Happy Hogan, a metal briefcase chained to his wrist like the nuclear launch codes on a secret service agent. "Did you…?"

"No ma'am," Happy said. Then their attention was drawn back into the room as a collective gasp rose from the observers. Bella's eyes moved immediately to the television screen, and it took a moment for her mind to register what she was seeing. A man was walking down the center of the track. What the hell was he doing? He'd get killed. And then the lead car came around the corner, and Bella couldn't tear her eyes from the screen. But before the car could collide with the crazed man, a flash of light seemed to extend from his hand, and the car was flipping through the air, sliced clean in two.

"Damn him," Bella said as she turned and grabbed Happy's sleeve, pulling him from the room. "Come on, we gotta get that to Tony." Bella was exactly sure what they were going to do, but Happy seemed to, so she let him guide her downstairs and into the car they had arrived in. Before she had a chance to buckle in, he had hit the gas and was headed straight for the blocked off streets that made up the track.

"Here," he said, dropping the briefcase over the backseat, his wrist still attached. "The key's in my pocket. Get it off."

Bella leaned over the seat, trying to keep her balance as the car swerved left and right. Finally she got the tiny key from Happy's pocket, and after a few moments of fumbling, was able to detach the case from his hand. Then she made the mistake of looking up. They were going backwards on the track, swerving around the cars that had already passed before the carnage had started. She did her best to keep the terrified screams in.

Then they rounded a corner, and she saw the smoking remains of cars piled up along the road. She gasped in shock at the sight, then she saw the man with the sparking whips advancing upon a man in a blue jumpsuit. Horrified, she realized it was Tony. Before she could say anything, Happy hit the gas on the car, heading straight for the pair. Just before they collided, she saw Tony jump and cling to the metal fence against the outside of the track. They hit the other man dead on, pinning him against the concrete barrier.

Tony jumped down from the fence walking to the driver's window. He was yelling something at Happy, but Bella couldn't hear what he was saying over the roar in her ears. What the hell had just happened?

Then the man groaned and began pushing against the car. Tony started yelling and pointing, Happy started cursing, and Bella tried to hold herself to the seat as the car lurched backwards then forwards again. The side door popped open because of the impacts, and Tony was yelling at her. Without thinking about it, she tossed the metal case out of the car, watching as it landed at Tony's feet. She prayed it worked the way it was supposed to. They had never gotten the chance to fully test it in battle conditions.

With a small measure of relief she saw Tony activate the case, the metal plating sliding out perfectly until it encased Tony. It wasn't as good as the full suit, but it would do in an emergency. An emergency just like this.

Once the suit had fully assembled, Tony kicked the car out of the way, and Bella clung to the seat to keep from tumbling out of the door. She watched in horror as Tony fought the other man. Whoever this man was, he had some tech that was very similar to Tony's. But luckily he wasn't quite as proficient with controlling it, and Tony was able to finally take him down, pulling the power source from the man's harness.

***

Tony sat in the back of the car, letting Happy drive him back to the airport where the plane, and Bella, were waiting for him. He had just left the detention facility where the man who had disrupted the race was being held. He has a little disturbed by the brief conversation he had had with the man. Who the hell was he? How had he gotten a hold of the plans to build the RT unit. Granted the one the man had assembled wasn't as advanced as his own, but still… And his parting comment. Tony shook his head, trying to dislodge the memory.

As the car pulled to a stop, he carefully schooled his expression not to show the apprehension he was feeling. He made his way onto his plane, finding Bella curled up on one of the seats. Her eyes were closed and her hair fell in her face. Leaning against the wall, Tony folded his arms over his chest and looked down at her, a small smile turning up the corner of his lips.

"Hey," he said quietly as he reached down to brush her hair from her face. Chocolate eyes blinked open, looking up at him with an unreadable expression. "Still mad at me?" She hadn't been too happy with his little stunt at the racetrack, and had made that very well known to him after the 'incident'.

"Just a little," she murmured, shifting in the seat to sit up straight.

He sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him. She settled into his side, an arm slipping around his waist. "I just wish you'd let me know before you do something like that. So I don't have a heart attack when I'm taken by surprise." After a moment, she turned her eyes up towards his face. "Did you talk to him? Did he say why he did it?"

It was a minute or two before Tony could respond. "I did talk to him," he said, not looking at the woman in his arms. "He didn't say much though. Couldn't make sense out of him at all." He gave her a light squeeze. "But don't worry. He's never going to get out of there." Tony hoped he wasn't lying.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Tony," Bella called as she came down the stairs from the main house. "Rhodey is here to see you." Punching in her access code to the workshop, Bella glanced about through the glass wall, looking for Tony. She didn't see him right away, but knew he was down there. He'd been down there almost since they had gotten back in town. "He's in here somewhere," she said to the pilot as he followed her into the room. The sound of the machines working drew her attention to the main work area of the room, just to find the robots working on repairing and reassembling the Mark V suit that had been heavily damaged in the incident at Monaco.

"There he is," she heard Rhodey say, and turned to glance in the direction he was already heading. Tony was sitting in the seat of one of his convertibles, watching as old news stories flickered past on the large screen in front of him. She recognized with a slight shudder the image of the man on the screen. No doubt Tony was trying to find out more about the man that had attacked him. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little curious too. After all, the guy had technology that no one but Tony should have had. She quickly turned her thoughts away from that area. The guy was in prison, and wasn't any more of a threat to them. But of course Tony would let it go so easily. His work was the one true source of pride that he had.

"Tony," Rhodey said as he came to a stop next to the car, glancing briefly at the screen before turning his attention back to the man in the car. "What in the hell is going on? You know I've been on the phone all day trying to keep the brass from rolling in here. I'm putting on my ass on the line for you here, you know that?"

Bella sighed silently. She didn't know James Rhodes as well as Tony of course, but his abrasiveness annoyed her. The last thing Tony needed was the added stress brought on by the man. But he was Tony's friend, so she let it go. Leaving the two to talk, she wandered back over to the worktable, watching as Dummy and You repaired and machined parts for the suit. "Hey Jarvis," she said quietly.

"Yes Ms. Swan?" Jarvis responded, his accented voice low as well, issuing from a speaker near where she was standing.

"Have you had any luck finding something to help him?"

"Not yet," Jarvis replied. "I am currently researching different element combinations to find a suitable replacement for palladium, however nothing has been found that would be acceptable."

Bella nodded to herself. She knew Tony had been searching like mad, but the technology was just so new and so advanced, there weren't many options.

"Are you alright?" Bella heard the sudden concern in Rhodey's voice, and turned quickly to see what was going on. Tony had climbed out of the car, but had apparently slumped when he tried to stand. Rhodey was supporting him and leading him to the desk nearby.

"Tony," she exclaimed as she moved to help. But Tony was already sitting, reaching under his shirt to remove the reactor. She had seen this process more and more frequently as of late, and she frowned as she watched him replace the palladium core.

"It's nothing," Tony said to Rhodey as the light from the reactor flared to life under his shirt.

"Uh huh," the other man responded. "And the high-tech roadmap on your neck?"

"Road rash."

Bella smirked in spite of herself. Nothing like imminent doom to bring out the best in Tony.

"Bella," Rhodey said, and she glanced up at his serious expression. "You seem to be the only one who can talk some sense into him since Pepper..." he broke off, glancing quickly down at Tony, as if afraid the man might lash out at him. "Well, you know what I mean. This is serious. They're ready to roll the tanks up the PCH and take those," he pointed to the row of suits against the wall.

"Thank you Colonel," she said, perhaps a little more stiffly than she intended. Rhodey gave her a look that was hard to decipher, then turned and left the room, heading back upstairs.

"He means well," Tony said after a moment, and Bella turned her eyes down to him, finding him watching her.

"I'm sure he does," she replied. "He just needs a little more tact."

"Maybe," he said as he reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her down onto his lap. She relented, settling against him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against her cheek as his hand stroked along her side. She sighed softly, turning her head to meet his lips in a soft kiss. After a moment, she pulled back, her eyes sliding open to gaze up at him.

"Find out anything about your friend from the racetrack?"

He made an aggravated sound, his eyes turning briefly to the screen that had displayed the articles he had been glancing through. "Not enough," he said. "But enough for now," he added, turning back to her. "Right now, I have something else on my mind."

"And what might that be?"

She saw his lips quirk upwards in that devilish smirk of his, and she found herself smiling in response. "A beautiful brunette, a couple glasses of wine, and a big bed," he said in a husky whisper.  
The ever-reliable flush crept onto her face, and she playfully smacked his shoulder. "Like that isn't always on your mind, you dirty old man."

"Good thing for me you like dirty old men," he said as he stood, easily pulling her up into his arms in the motion. For a moment she tried to fight off his grip and regain her ground, but quickly gave up after a half-hearted attempt. He laughed at her little pout, dropping a light kiss on her lips as he took them out of the workshop.

***

The bright sunlight shining on his face woke Tony from a dream. He tried to remember what the images were, but they slipped away too fast in the morning's brightness. Glancing towards the bank of windows that made up one whole wall of his bedroom, he saw the sun just rising above the horizon. A warm weight shifted against him, and he turned his eyes down to see Bella laying against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. A rare soft smile turned up the corners of his mouth as he tightened his arm around her, fingers absently brushing over the soft skin. She really was a beautiful woman, and he knew he was lucky that he could still call her his. After the hell he had put her through the last few weeks, he was surprised that she had forgiven him. But then he figured he shouldn't be. It was the type of person she was. And he was thankful for that, though he may not admit it outside of his own thoughts.

"Thinking too loud...go back to sleep," he heard her sleepy voice mutter, and he chuckled quietly. Her hair tickled against his chest as she turned her head up to gaze at him through long lashes. "Good morning," he said softly.

"Morning," she said through a stifled yawn. "Happy birthday," she added, placing a kiss against his shoulder.


	9. Chapter 9

Bella had to admit that the day had been going remarkably well so far. After a lazy morning spent mostly in bed, she and Tony went out to a nice lunch, and were now walking down along the beach at the base of the cliffs outside of their home. He had reverted back to the charming, witty man that she had first met, and for now at least, she was able to forget the difficulties of the last few months. As they walked barefoot through the sand, her hand clasped in his, she glanced up at him, pleased to see the easy expression on his face.

Catching her gaze, he quirked his lips up slightly. "What?" Tony asked.

"Nothing," she responded with a small smile as she shifted closer, her smile widening slightly when his laid his arm over her shoulders as they continued walking. "I'm just really happy right now."

Tony pulled them to a stop and turn to face her. His face softened into one of his rare smiles, and he reached a hand up to brush his fingers along her cheek. "I'm glad you're happy," he said sincerely, before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her lips. They lingered for a moment before he pulled back. "I am too," he said. "Probably one of the best birthdays I've had in awhile." Bella laughed softly, then pulled on his arm to continue their walk. "Let's cancel the party," he added after a few moments. "Let's just spend the night alone. I want to just enjoy the night with you."

"We can't cancel the party Tony," Bella said with a grin. "It's only a few hours away. Everybody is already coming, the food, the music, it's all set up! It'll be fun."

"You hate parties," he said, but he knew that she was right. Anyway, he had to put on a good face for the VIPs that would be there, show everyone that all was well. Especially after the chaos of the last few weeks. "But you're right, of course," he said. "We'll just have to suffer through it, and look forward to the end of the night." He smirked down at her, a familiar gleam lighting his eyes. "That's when the real celebration begins."

Bella felt the heat begin to creep up her cheeks, and she smacked him playfully on the arm. "You're terrible," she said with a laugh. But she knew she would be watching the clock and waiting for the night to end as much as he. "Come on," she said as she saw the path leading back up to the house. "Let's go home."

***

Tony stood looking out at the waves rolling far below him. The sun had just set under the horizon, and the sounds of the party starting in the house behind him filled the night air. He had retreated to his office shortly before the guests started arriving, leaving Bella to get the last minute set-up organized. Spending the day with Bella, he had found that he was able to lose himself in the simple pleasure of her company, and let go of his worries. But now the dark thoughts were returning to his mind, as inevitable as the darkness of the night taking over the sky. As he sat alone with his thoughts, he couldn't help the doubt and the despair that crept up on him. The most recent check showed the poisoning in his blood was reaching the limits of what he would be able to withstand. At the rate it was going, he only had a week or two more, if even that long, before it would consume him. And he was no closer to finding an solution.

He sipped at the glass of scotch he had poured for himself...how many was that now? He didn't care at the moment. With a sigh, he settled into his chair, glass in hand, and stared blankly out the windows. Several options had passed through his thoughts, things that would make the end so much easier. For a moment, he had considered giving up, saying to hell with it all and just letting go. But he had dismissed that thought almost as immediately as it had come. He wasn't the type to just give up, and he definitely wouldn't do that to Bella. But his options were quickly running out, and he found himself getting more and more used to the idea. Had even planned out what he could do if he made that choice.

A soft knock at the door drew him from his thoughts, and he glanced up to see Bella peeking her head into the room. "May I come in," she asked.

"Sure," he said, turning his gaze back to the night sky as he returned to his drink. He heard the door shut, and after a moment, Bella was standing beside the chair. He glanced up at her face, barely noticing the concerned look she was giving him.

"Tony, how much have you been drinking?" Bella asked quietly.

He could hear the worry, and the apprehension in her voice, and despite his best effort to contain it, it annoyed him. "Just a little," he said, irritation coloring his tone. Not exactly true, his conscience chided him, but he quieted it. "What do you want?"

"Just wondering if you were going to join your party," she said.

"Of course," he said, downing the rest of his drink in one gulp and dropping the glass on the desk. Standing, he turned and made his way to the door, throwing it open and heading towards the sounds of the party, leaving her behind.

***

Bella fought back the emotions that were pulling at her thoughts. The day had been so perfect up until now. She knew she should have been worried when Tony disappeared into his office, asking for some privacy. She had seen the same scene several times over the last few months, and it almost never ended well. And it didn't seem as if tonight was going to be any different. Despite how well he held himself together, she could see that he was already buzzed, if not drunk. And the shortness with which he spoke to her only highlighted that fact.

She sat down in the chair that Tony had just vacated, her head dropping into her hands as she fought for control of her thoughts. She wasn't sure how much she would be able to handle anymore, and she prayed that tonight didn't turn into the disaster that she was starting to fear it would. She tried to think of anything she might be able to do to keep the night from turning bad. Then she struck upon an idea. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, she dialed up a familiar number. After only one or two rings, it was answered.

"Hey Edward, it's Bella," she said.

"Bella," Edward said, his voice sounding thin through the phone. "Is everything ok?"

"I'm not sure," she answered. "I'm a little worried about Tony, and with the party tonight. I was wondering if you could come down here. Maybe help me keep an eye on him?" She heard a light chuckle through the phone.

"I was already planning on it," he said. "I'm almost there now actually,"

"Thanks Edward," she said, grateful for the fact that he would be there just in case.

"Of course."

Pocketing her phone, she sighed and stood, making her way to the party.


	10. Chapter 10

For a moment or two, Bella stood at the door leading from Tony's home office to the main part of the house, bracing herself to face the crowd of people that were there to celebrate Tony's birthday. And to face the problems she was hoping wouldn't arise during the evening. Taking a deep breath or two, she opened and slipped out the door, the cacophony of sounds from the party assaulting her ears. Tony certainly didn't do anything small, even when it was something he didn't want to do at all. This was a party planning worthy of Alice, she thought with a mental laugh. The entire main part of the house had been transformed into a club-like atmosphere, complete with full bar, DJ, and dance floor. And the crowd of high class party-goers were taking full advantage of the chance to bask in the type of life that they pictured Tony living.

Scanning the faces in the crowd as she made her way through, Bella smiled and nodded to those few that she knew, making polite comments in response to those that said hello. She didn't see Tony anywhere, but with so many people moving about, she knew it might take some looking to find him. Before she could find him however, she ran into Rhodey, who was looking a little upset.

"Good evening Colonel," she said as lightheartedly as she could.

"Bella," he responded curtly, giving her a nod. "Where is he?"

"Around here somewhere," she said, her eyes turning to glance around the room once again. "Is something the matter?"

"No more than usual, I suppose," he said. "I just need to talk to him."

"Well I'm sure you'll see him at some point. He is the guest of honor after all." Couldn't he try not to be so serious for one night, she wondered to herself. She didn't recall having ever seen Tony's best friend smile. Sometimes she wondered how the two of them had even become such good friends, they were so different from each other. And they certainly seemed to drive each other pretty crazy at times. "Excuse me," she said with a polite smile as she turned away from the man, slipping back into the crowd.

After a short time, Bella began to wonder if perhaps Tony had slipped away from the party. Even in such a large group of people, he was pretty easy to find. She wouldn't put it past him to have snuck away to his workshop or something. But then her attention was caught by the sound of a woman's high pitched squealing from a spot near the bar. Turning towards the sound, Bella saw a pretty red-haired woman standing next to Tony, just a little too close for Bella's comfort. As she drew nearer to them, Bella noticed the reason for the woman's squeals. One of her hands was encased in the gauntlet of the Iron Man suit, a power line linking it to Tony's RT. A frown spread across Bella's face as she watched Tony help the girl aim the repulsor at an ice sculpture on the table and fire off a blast that shattered it into ice chips much to the delight of those watching.

"Tony!" Bella said as she drew close enough for them to hear. His face turned towards her and she could see the haze in their blue depths that clearly showed the scotch he had been drinking in his office had been followed by several friends. Slipping next to him, she reached up a hand to turn his face towards her. "What are you doing? This is crazy!"

"Relax Bell," he said with a drunken smile. "We're just having a little fun," he said. The woman tethered to him by the power line nodding enthusiastically. "They just wanted a little show, and Nadi...Natas.."  
"Natalie," the redhead offered.

"Yeah, Natalie here wanted a little taste of the power." Tony didn't seem to think this was a problem at all, but Bella knew better. Things were bad enough already, and if this got any more out of hand...well, Bella hoped Rhodey would stay lost in the crowd for a little bit longer, and hopefully she could get this under control. Part of her wished that Pepper was here. She was much better at controlling Tony's unpredictable behavior.

"Tony, listen to me," she said, and waited until he had focused on her. "You're losing control Tony. If Rhodes sees this, it'll be bad. You need to put away your toys for now. Please?" Bella wondered if Tony was even processing what she was saying. The blank look in his eyes was not a hopeful sign. But after a moment he nodded.

"You're right," he said. Turning to the other woman, he took her arm and removed the gauntlet, much to her disappointment. "I'll just take this downstairs."

"Thank you," Bella said, relieved that it seemed as if Tony had actually understood how serious she was. She watched as Tony disappeared into the crowd, heading for the stairs leading down to the workshop. Sparing a glance back at the woman who was still standing next tot he bar, Bella caught a brief glimpse of a contemplative look that seemed out of place. But it was quickly replaced by a pout.

"Party pooper," the woman said with a huff before turning away and melting back into the crowd. Bella rolled her eyes. She couldn't care less that she had ruined the woman's fun.

"Having fun?" A voice said from behind her, and Bella turned to find Edward standing there, a slight smirk on his lips. She felt the last bit of tension she was feeling melt away at the sight of him there. At least now there was the possibility that things could be handled in the event that something worse happened.

"Oh don't you know it," Bella responded. "Thanks for coming Edward."

"Of course," the vampire replied. "That was quite a scene there, but you seemed to have handled it well."

"Thank god," she said. "Hopefully that's as bad as it will get. But I'm glad you're here just in case."

"Pepper wanted to come too, but I asked her to stay home. Not sure how she would be with so many people about, though she is getting very good at controlling her natural instincts."

"That's good to hear," Bella said, glad for the distraction from her worries, but also glad to hear that her friend was adapting to her new lifestyle.

A sudden cheering from the crowd made Bella jump, her head darting about to see what was going on. She heard Edward mumbling something to himself that didn't sound too promising. Then she saw what was causing the commotion, and her heart sank. This was bad, very bad. Tony had emerged from downstairs, but instead of putting away the gauntlet of the suit, he had actually suited up himself, and was starting to entertain the people by showing off the armor.

"Damn it Tony," she said under her breath as she watched the man in question mount the stage by the DJ and take up the microphone. She started making her way towards the stage, Edward in tow. Hopefully she could intercept whatever was about to happen before it did. But she was cut off by Rhodey.

"Bella, you have to stop him. Now. Or I will," he said, the look in his eyes dead serious.

"I know Colonel," she responded. "I'll take care of it." She pushed past him. Tony was rambling to the crowd about something, but she wasn't paying attention to what. Finally reaching the stage, she took the few steps up to stand next to Tony, Edward standing next to the stage and keeping an eye on her. "Tony," she said quietly so as not to be overheard by the crowd. "Tony, please listen to me. This is too much. You need to stop this now."

"But we're just starting the fun," he said, his words slurring together slightly.

"No Tony, the fun is over. The party is over. It's time to send everyone home and call it a night." She prayed silently that there was still some rational part of Tony's mind operating, and he would listen to her, though at this point she highly doubted it. She glanced back at Edward for support, and saw an odd look on his face. Great, all she needed was for something else to worry about. He noticed her look and stepped up next to her, his hand laying against her arm and pulling her slightly to the side. "Send them home," she repeated to Tony before turning towards Edward. "What is it?"

Edward leaned closer to her to speak quietly to her. "He's not drunk," the vampire said. "He's faking it."

"What?" Bella said, turning to glance back at the man in surprise for a moment before turning back to Edward. "Why?" Why would Tony fake being drunk? It didn't make any sense.

Edwards brow furrowed for a moment. "I'm not sure, he's being very careful not to think of any specific reason, but he is thinking very clearly and very quickly."

"Alright," she said, then turned back to Tony. Grabbing the armored arm of the suit, she pulled on it, turning Tony towards her. "Tony, listen to me right now. I don't know what you're thinking, or what you're trying to do, but you are going to stop it right now. Say goodnight, end the party, and go get that thing off. And then we're going to talk."

For a moment, Tony's eyes cleared, and Bella could see that Edward was right on the money. Tony glanced between Bella and Edward behind her and back, seeming to try and calculate their reactions to whatever he was thinking. But before he could say anything, Edward stepped up next to Bella.

"Tony, listen to her. If I have to, I will take you down myself, and I don't think you want that to happen in front of everyone."

A scowl crossed Tony's face, and for a moment, Bella was actually afraid that Tony would try and fight Edward right there in the middle of the party. But after a second it vanished, replaced by an almost defeated look. And that was almost as frightening.

"Party's over folks," he said into the microphone before tossing it to the ground and storming out of the room, the crowd parting in front of him. He disappeared down the stairs to the workshop.

There was a collective murmur from the crowd, disappointment that there wasn't more a show obvious in the faces of the people. But Bella didn't care about them at all. Right now she just wanted to get everyone cleared out so that she could go downstairs and find out what the hell was going on, and what Tony was up to.

***

It took a good twenty or thirty minutes to get the disappointed people on their way and get the house cleared, but eventually the last of the people made their way out to their cars, and Bella gratefully shut the door to the now silent house. She glanced at Edward, who was standing by the stairs, his face in a contemplative expression.

"Edward?" Bella asked as she moved closer. "Do you know what's going on now?"

"I..." he faltered for a moment. "Yes, he's finally thought about what he was doing. But I'm not sure you want to know."

"Please Edward, I need to know. He hardly ever tells me what's going on in his mind anymore."

"He...he was trying to kill himself."

Bella gasped, her hand flying to her mouth and her eyes widening. That didn't seem like something Tony would ever do, and she wondered if it was possible that Edward was wrong. She prayed he was wrong.

"He was hoping Colonel Rhodes would get angry enough to take one of the other suits and fight him. He was going to let Rhodes defeat him...he thought it would be easier than letting the poison kill him."

Bella couldn't believe that Tony would ever think such a thing, but she knew that Edward wouldn't lie to her about something so serious. Did Tony really believe that there was no other option other than suicide? And how could he possibly even think about doing something so horrendous to those that cared about him...Pepper, and Rhodey...and her.

"I'm going to talk to him...alone," she said as she pushed past Edward. Then she turned back to him. "Wait up here?"

"Of course," Edward replied.

"Thanks," she said, a ghost of a smile for him on his lips before she turned back, heading down the stairs.


	11. Chapter 11

As she slowly made her way down the stairs leading to Tony's workshop, Bella's mind raced with everything that had happened that evening. First the chaotic events at the party, followed by the disturbing revelation from Edward of what Tony had been trying to do. She didn't even know what she was supposed to think anymore. Tony had gone further than she had imagined he would have, and she was truly afraid that he was reaching the end of what he could fight. If a man as proud as Tony Stark would resort to suicide...she feared to think of what that said about his mental health, not to mention the physical strains that was being put upon him because of the palladium poisoning.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Bella glanced through the glass walls, looking for any sign of Tony in the large room. She didn't see him, but she did notice that the armored suit was back in its place along the wall. Bracing herself for the confrontation she feared would be coming, she keyed in her code for the door and made her way into the workshop. After a few moments of searching, she found Tony sprawled out on the loveseat that was part of the small sitting area of the room. His eyes were closed, and he didn't seem to even notice her presence as she made her way over to him. Quietly, she sat on one of the chairs next to the sofa, and glanced over the man in front of her. This was a man that she had grown to love so much over the last half a year, but now she felt as if she barely knew him at all. So much had changed from those first wonderful few weeks, even the first few months of their growing relationship.

"What?" Tony said suddenly, breaking her train of thought, and causing her to jump slightly. He still wasn't looking at her, but he had tensed, and she could see the signs of stress in him.

"Please talk to me Tony," she said quietly, her voice cracking slightly with tears she wouldn't let fall. "Let me know what's going on, what is happening. I'm so worried about you..."

"Don't be," he said, his voice almost inaudible. Then those piercing blue eyes opened, and she saw a tumble of emotions mixed in them. "I don't want you to worry about me...I don't want you to have to deal with this at all."

"Dammit Tony!" Bella burst out, letting her annoyance get the better of her. "Guess what! That's just too bad. Because I am dealing with this. I'm dealing with this everyday, watching you sink deeper in deeper into whatever god damned hole you're falling into, and not knowing what the hell I'm supposed to do." She stood, pacing back and forth in front of the man as she ranted, letting spill all the emotions and thoughts that had been building up. "I love you. I want to be there for you Tony, I want to be able to help you. But you won't let me close. You push me away and push me away, and you know what? You're about to push me away for the last time. Don't do that Tony."

"It would be better for you," he started to say, but Bella wouldn't let him finish that thought.

"Fuck you Tony Stark," she said, her voice painfully loud. "I'm not going to deal with that bullshit again. Edward did it to me before, and I am not going to let you do it to me now. I know what is better for me, and I'm not going to let him or you tell me otherwise." She stopped in front of him, arms folded across her chest as she glared down at him. "I am not going to leave, and I am not going to let you push me away. I don't know what the hell you think you were doing up there, and I hope that Edward is mistaken in what he thought he heard, but from what I've been seeing, I don't think he was. How the hell could you even think such a thing? How could you even consider it a possibility? Did you even think about how much it would hurt everyone? Pepper? Rhodey? Me? Did you even think about anyone else?"

She glared down at him, brown eyes piercing into blue. Then his eyes dropped from hers, and his face fell into that defeated expression she had seen for a brief moment at the party. With a sigh, she dropped her arms and sat next to him on the loveseat, slipping under his arm to lay against his side, her head on his shoulder. "We will find a way to make this better Tony, but I need you to talk to me. And I need you to not do this kind of stupid stunt again." Finally Bella felt the tears slipping down her face, and she reached up a hand to brush them away.

"I'm sorry," Tony said, his voice the ghost of a whisper. She felt his arm tighten around her shoulders, and she prayed that maybe this time she had gotten through to him. She lay her head against his chest, quieting the storm in her mind as they sat together in silence.

"How touching," a voice suddenly said, and they both jerked upright, heads turning towards the sound.


	12. Chapter 12

_"How touching," a voice suddenly said, and they both jerked upright, heads turning towards the sound._

"You," Tony said in a tone that clearly showed his aggravation, glaring at the man leaning against the far wall of the workshop. "What are you doing here?"

Bella glanced between Tony and their mystery guest. It was obvious that Tony knew this man, though Bella was sure she hadn't met him herself. And how had he gotten into the workshop anyway? She took a brief moment to try and get a feel for the man, but wasn't able to tell much. He was sharply dressed in a business suit, and definitely had a no-nonsense air about him, despite the crooked smile on his face. If she didn't know better, she would say he reeked of government official, which could never be a good sign.

"I'm here to check up on you, obviously. You have been causing quite a stir, haven't you?"

"Perhaps," Tony responded. "Though I don't see how it's any of your business."

"We make it our business," the man said. "We need you, and in better shape than you are in now."

"I told your boss, I'm not interested."

"Tony?" Bella said, glancing up at him and conveying her frustration about the cryptic conversation going on over her head. "Care to enlighten me?"

Tony turned his gaze from the man across the room, focusing his attention on her. "Bella, this is Agent Coulson from the Strategic something or another..."

"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division," the man supplied.

"Yeah, that. SHIELD. They've been trying to recruit me for some top secret superman boy band." Tony turned his eyes back to the agent. "Why don't you run back to Patch and tell him to buzz off. My answer hasn't changed."

Bella still wasn't sure she was quite following what was going on. But her attention was distracted by the sight of Edward appearing at the bottom of the stairs and making his way into the workshop, golden eyes on their guest. Tony and Coulson noticed him as well, and Bella noticed the sudden intensity of Edward's gaze on the man when their eyes met. She was about to ask Edward what was wrong when she was interrupted by the agent.

"Hmm...vampire. Natasha was right." That certainly got everyone's attention, and all eyes swiveled to the agent. But it seemed as if in his mind, it wasn't an issue at all, and he had already dismissed Edward's presence and his own statement as if it were nothing to be concerned with. Instead he was focused on Tony once more. "Director Fury asked me to bring you this," he said as he gestured to a large metal trunk against the wall that Bella hadn't noticed before. She could see something stenciled onto it, but she couldn't read it from where she was.

"What is it?" Tony asked, not even bothering himself with getting up to inspect it.

"Some old things that were left at the SHIELD headquarters after your father died. He left instructions that they were to be given to you." Coulson's eyes studied Tony's face for a moment, and Bella wondered what was going through his mind. She had never heard Tony talk about his father before, though she knew a little bit about him from working at Stark Industries over the last few months. "You didn't know?" Coulson asked. "Your father was one of the founding members of SHIELD."

"Well I didn't know a lot about him," Tony said after a moment, slipping away from Bella and standing, making his way over to where Coulson was standing. After a moment, he glanced down at the trunk, then kneeled down to flip open the latch and pop the lid off.

Bella stood and walked over as well, glancing down into the box. It seemed to be full of a jumble of papers, notebooks, blueprints, and old film reels.

"Well, I'll leave you to get to work," Coulson said as Tony rifled through the papers. "I'll be back to check on you."

"Wait," Bella said, turning towards the agent as he started to make his way towards the stairs leading to the main house. "What is all this? Work on what?"

The man glanced between Bella and Tony, still kneeling in front of the box. "Howard said the Arc was a first step to something bigger, something that would change the world. But he never completed his vision, and he left all his notes and research to Tony."

"Do you mean that there might be something in there that could help Tony? Something that could..."

"Perhaps." With that, Coulson turned and left the room, heading up the stairs.

Bella watched after him for a moment before glancing back at Tony. She decided to leave him for a few moments to go through his father's old papers, and instead turned towards Edward, who was still looking towards where Coulson had disappeared to. "Edward," she said as she stepped next to him, laying her hand on his arm. "How did he know about you?"

"I'm not sure, " Edward replied, his tone distracted. "But he knew exactly what I was the moment he saw me. And apparently his colleague Natasha saw me upstairs during the party and told him I was here." He turned towards Bella, glancing back to make sure Tony wasn't paying attention to them before leading Bella a little bit away to speak with her privately. "Is everything alright?"

Bella sighed softly. "Well I'm sure you heard everything from upstairs," she said, and Edward nodded.

"You certainly gave him the riot act." His lips quirked upwards in a crooked grin. "I didn't even need vampiric hearing to hear you down here." He chuckled at Bella's flush of embarrassment. "Not that it wasn't deserved."

"I just hope I actually got through to him this time," she said. "I know things were bad for awhile, and it got a little nuts, but I never would have imagined him doing something like what he tried tonight. He's too...proud to just give up like that." She glanced back over at Tony pouring over a notebook he had pulled from the trunk. "But maybe this will give him something to focus on, and maybe..." she couldn't even voice the hope that maybe there was a solution to Tony's condition buried somewhere in that mess of papers. She didn't want to get her hopes up. She smiled up at Edward, reaching up to give him a brief hug, which he returned gently. "Thank you Edward, for everything. Why don't you head home for now? I think I can handle things for awhile here, especially if he's engrossed in some new work."

"Alright," Edward said. "But promise you'll call me if you need anything."

"Of course. And tell everyone I say a hello, will you?"

"Of course."

Bella watched as Edward gave a last once over of Tony before he turned and left the room. She was so grateful that Edward was there for her when she needed him, and that he was willing to help her with Tony, despite everything that had happened. But then she wondered about Edward himself. From what she had seen for the brief time she had recently spent up at the Cullen's home, she had seen Edward and Pepper getting close, and she wondered if perhaps there was something developing there. A small smile curved on her lips as she entertained the idea. With that thought on her mind, she turned and made her way back to Tony, helping him sort through the contents of the trunk his father had left him.


	13. Chapter 13

For the last several hours Tony had been busy sorting through all the papers and notebooks in the trunk that Coulson had brought. There seemed to be every bit of research information, rough sketch, and hastily scribbled ideas on the Arc Reactor in there. He had even unearthed some old newsprint photos of his father and another man, Anton Vanko. So this was the father of that guy from Morocco? He had never heard of the guy before, every piece of information he had on the Arc only had Howard Stark's name on it. But after a quick search through Jarvis, he figured that Vanko's name had been stricken from the records after the scandal he caused.

What had Coulson meant when he said that Howard had envisioned the Arc as a stepping stone to something greater? The Arc reactor project had been a money pit from the get go, something that worked only as a science project. It wasn't at all cost effective, and had never really caught on. The only good it had ever done anybody was when Tony had been in dire need of a sustainable power source that he had to improvise from spare parts, and even then, that only ended up with the RT that was currently killing him. What more was he supposed to get out of all this information?

After a few hours, Tony had to admit that there wasn't much in the various notes that was new to him. Most of what was left behind by his father were things that were in the company records already. How was he supposed to do anything with this? Dropping the notebook he had been flipping through, Tony ran a hand over his face as he sighed. He glanced across the room, noticing that Bella had fallen asleep on the couch, an open notebook loosely clasped in her hand. A small smile turned up the corners of his lips as he looked at her, but it was quickly gone. Guilt wasn't an emotion that Tony was used to, but he was definitely feeling it right now. After the tirade he received from Bella earlier...well, he had deserved it. He knew that. But it didn't make it any easier.

Deciding that he wasn't going to get any more out of the old pile of papers for the night, he piled the notebooks back into the trunk and closed it up. Standing up with a stretch, he quietly made his way to where Bella was laying, and gently took the notebook from her hands. He allowed his hand to wander, fingers brushing lightly across her cheek, pushing a stray strand of hair away from her face. She stirred slightly under his touch, eyes opening to peer bleerily up at him.

"Hey there," he said quietly, a soft expression on his face as he looked down at her.

"Hey," she responded, eyes blinking in a sleepy expression. "What time is it?"

"Late," he said, before bending down to scoop her up into his arms. She squealed in surprise before throwing her arms around his shoulders to steady herself. "Come on, let's get you into bed for the night."

"Tony!" Bella said with a small laugh that he loved hearing. But she didn't struggle to be let down as he carried her up out of the workshop and into their bedroom. Only then did he drop her back to her feet, and pressed a swift kiss upon her forehead before releasing her. She gave him a hint of a smile, before turning and making her way into the bathroom.

For a moment he remained where he stood, then with a shake of his head he moved to get ready for bed.

Bella woke up slowly, the last threads of a dream that she couldn't quite remember slipping away from her as her conscious mind began to awaken. She stretched with a yawn and turned her head, unsurprised to find that she was alone in the large bed. By the angle of the sunlight coming through the floor length windows, it was probably getting close to afternoon. No doubt Tony was back downstairs in his workshop. Hopefully finding something useful in that old trunk.

"Jarvis?" Bella inquired quietly. "Where is Tony?"

"Mr. Stark is currently in the workshop, Ms. Bella," the AI responded promptly.

She nodded, having already figured that. "Is he alright?"

"At the moment. He is watching film reels of his father."

"Ah, ok." Bella sat up, stretching again before swinging her feet to the floor. "Jarvis? Did you know what Tony was planning last night?" The silence that followed was enough for her to know the answer. Jarvis never failed to immediately respond to a question. She wondered if his circuits were trying to process the idea of loyalty to his creator versus the knowledge that said man needed help. "Jarvis?"

"Mr. Stark did authorize access to the armored suits for Colonel Rhodes."

Close enough, Bella figured. If Tony had instructed Jarvis to let Rhodey have one of the suits, that was pretty sure-fire evidence that what Edward had said was dead on. She sighed, but pushed her feelings aside for the moment. After their fight...her rant, she corrected, and the appearance of that agent guy with those old papers, she hoped that perhaps they would not have to have a repeat of that failed suicide attempt.

"Mr. Cullen is waiting downstairs to speak with you, Ms. Bella."

"Edward?" Bella was wondering what had brought Edward back so quickly. Was something wrong?

"No, Mr. Carlisle Cullen."

Carlisle? She wondered why Carlisle would have come down. Maybe he had figured something out? It had to be important. "Tell him I'll be right down." Pointless, she knew. He probably could hear her telling Jarvis to tell him. She smiled to herself at the thought. Oh well. Standing up, she moved to get dressed and presentable before heading downstairs.

When Bella came down the stairs to the living room, she immediately saw the tall figure of the Cullen patriarch standing by the piano that dominated the living room. He turned as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the ever present gentle expression on his face putting her at ease as it always did. She smiled as she walked up to him, giving him a tentative hug that he returned.

"Carlisle! This is a surprise! What brings you down here? Is everything alright?"

"Of course," he responded with a smile. "I just thought perhaps I could be of some assistance to Mr. Stark, and to you. A few hundred years of medical experience..."

Bella laughed quietly. "Maybe. Though I'm not sure how much it would really help. This isn't like a cold." She sighed.

Carlisle's hand raised to rest gently on her shoulder. "I know. But I wanted to at least offer. I consider you part of my family Bella, and I don't want to see you hurt. And I know this is hurting you, however much you try to hide it."

Bella was grateful for Carlisle's understanding, and for his strong presence. "Thank you Carlisle," she said, voicing her gratitude. "Tony is downstairs now. Some guy came by last night and dropped off a big trunk of old papers that belonged to Tony's dad."

"I know," he said. "Edward told us last night about what happened." He paused for a moment, then his lips quirked in a lopsided grin. "Pepper was all for an immediate trip down here to...'pound some sense into his thick skull', as she put it. Though I do believe she also added a few...colorful metaphors to the statement."

Despite herself, Bella found herself smiling, easily picturing Pepper's tirade that must have surely outshone her own little flare of temper the previous night.

"Bella? Could you come down here please?" Tony's voice came over the intercom system, causing both of their heads to turn towards the speaker.

"Be right down," Bella said, knowing that Jarvis would transmit it to Tony for it. Turning back to Carlisle, she said, "Would you like to come down with me?"

In response, Carlisle gestured for her to lead the way. Bella headed towards the curved stairs that led down to the workshop, Carlisle following her. She didn't recall Carlisle having seen the workshop before, having only been at the house once before, right after the fiasco that had brought her and Tony together, to explain the situation about Pepper's turning. She wondered briefly what he would make of the room. But then she reached the bottom of the stairs, and keyed her code into the access panel. Pulling open the glass door, she moved into the room, inviting Carlisle in behind her. After a moment, she located Tony at the far end of the room, flipping through an old notebook while an old film reel played on the wall behind him. She assumed the man on the screen was Howard Stark from a few pictures she had seen of him. It looked like an ad for the original Stark Expo, or rather, the outtakes of original presentation.

"Hey Tony," she said, drawing his attention. "You remember Edward's father Carlisle, don't you?"

Tony glanced at the man standing behind her, then nodded, "Of course. Dr. Cullen, nice to see you again."

"You as well Mr. Stark," Carlisle responded.

"Did you need something Tony?" Bella asked moving to stand next to him, glancing at the book he held in his hands. The pages were covered in a scrawled script, with a few diagrams sketched here and there in the margins.

"Hmm? Oh yes, could you do me a favor? I need a few things from my office..."

"Tony?" All three of their heads turned in confusion towards the screen that was playing behind them, but then they realized that in the old footage, Howard Stark had been talking about the expo but was interrupted by the antics of a little boy, no more than 4 or 5 years old. Bella realized that the little boy on the screen was Tony. For a moment, all three of them watched as Howard admonished little Tony for playing behind him before another woman entered the frame and ushered the boy out. Bella glanced down at the adult Tony sitting next to her, and found him watching the screen with an oddly amused look on his face. She wondered if he remembered that incident, or if the images playing out on the screen seemed to be somebody else's life.

"Something from your office?" Bella said, drawing Tony's attention back to the present day.

"Yeah," he dug a small sheet of note paper on the desk beside him. "Some old files I have in my office, things that were never put into the computers. Would you mind?"

"Of course not," she said, taking the note from him and sticking it in the pocket of her jeans. "Care to come with me Carlisle? It's Sunday, so the office would be deserted."

"I would be delighted," the man responded.

"Thanks. Alright then. We'll be back soon I guess." She gave Tony a small smile that he returned before burying himself back in the notebooks. She shook her head in a quiet amusement, when Tony was focused on something...

Turning back to Carlisle, she gestured towards the other end of the workshop, where the cars were parked. She watched as his eyebrows raised when he noticed the rather impressive collection that Tony had, one to rival that of his own family. Heading that direction, Bella snagged from a hanging board the keys to the car that Tony had given her to use, the Audi R8.

A few minutes later, they were cruising down the highway on their way towards the city.


	14. Chapter 14

Despite it being Sunday, it still took a while to get through the traffic in downtown LA, but eventually Bella pulled into the Stark Industries complex, making her way towards the main building that housed the executive offices. "Here we are," she said as she pulled into a parking spot and shut the car down. It was a short walk through the sunny parking lot to the building, but luckily, as she had figured, the place was deserted, so it wasn't any problem for Carlisle to make the short distance from the car to the entrance. They walked in silence as Bella led the way up to Tony's office, pulling her ID card out to scan her way into the secured building.

"Impressive," Carlisle said as he glanced around the airy office suite. The windows that made up the back wall gave an impressive view of the city skyline, and the understated design in the room seemed quite opposite of Tony’s flamboyant character. Bella nodded her agreement on the assessment of the office as she moved towards Tony's desk, unlocking the file cabinet Tony had told her to look in and started flipping through the files within. "What's this?" Bella heard him ask, and she glanced up to see him looking at the old Expo model that was propped against one of the walls.

"Oh, that's the old model of the original Stark Expo," she said as she started piling some folders on the desk, flipping through them as she did so. "Tony pulled it out a few months ago when he was planning the Expo in New York."

Carlisle pulled off some covers that had been draped partially over the model and was examining the minute details that had been lovingly put into the display. "I remember when the first Stark Expo happened," Carlisle said. "It was quite the event. The 'beginning of the future' they called it." He tossed an easy grin towards Bella. "Brilliance runs in his family, doesn't it?"  
Bella chuckled quietly as she locked the file cabinet and gathered up the folders. "Sure seems to. I think I have everything he asked for," she added, checking against the list that Tony had given her. "I should probably just pop into my office while we're here, pick up a couple of things. It’s right down the hall," she said as she moved to where Carlisle was standing. Glancing up at him, she noticed an odd tilt of his head as he gazed at the model, golden eyes narrowed. "Carlisle? What is it?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "There's something about the layout of the model that's bothering me." A pale hand rose to trace along the paths of the miniature park.

Bella turned her eyes to the Expo model, trying to see what Carlisle was seeing. Her eyes travelled over the expanse of the display. She had looked at it several times as Tony had been planning the current Expo in New York, but she had never noticed anything odd about it. Nor had he, and Tony had spent hours pouring over it.

"The future is here," Carlisle said, reading the tiny bronze plaque that was on the edge of the board. "It may be nothing, but I want Tony to take a look at this," he said after a moment. "It's been a while since I've studied chemistry, but the layout of the buildings and pathways on here...it almost looks like the model of an element. But it's nothing I recognize."

"Well Tony studied this thing endlessly for months, and never said anything like that." Bella thought for a moment. "Though I suppose he wasn't looking for it either. Do you think you could get this down to the car? It breaks up into a few smaller pieces."

"Not a problem," Carlisle responded, and together they began pulling the boards from against the wall and disassembling them. Once they had them taken down, Carlisle began taking the pieces down to the waiting car as Bella left to make a quick run by her office.

Carlisle returned to the office suite after having carried the last piece of the Expo model down to the car. Bella still had not returned from her run to her office, so he decided to find her. Following the lingering traces of her scent, he made his way down a short hallway to a series of small office rooms. He quickly located the room that served as Bella's office at the complex, and was immediately on alert. Though she was not there, he could sense that Bella had recently been in the room, there were also some scents that alarmed him. Someone else had been there. And there was a pungent chemical smell hovering in the room. A smell that caused a tendril of dread to creep into him.

Racing back down the hallway, he followed the trail out of a side door and into a small parking lot. There it disappeared, as whomever had been there had obviously fled in a vehicle.  
With all other thoughts flying from his mind, Carlisle ran as fast as he could back towards the Malibu mansion. He had to get Tony.


	15. Chapter 15

Tony sighed as he put down the notebook he had been flipping through. It was yet again another dead end, half-filled with information that he already knew, or scribbles that had been added in to illustrate a roughly hewn idea. Throwing the stack of notebooks back into the trunk, he stood and stretched, looking around the workshop. He hoped, when Bella and Carlisle returned from the office, that the notes she was bringing would give him a little more help. They were things that he hadn't looked at in years, documents that had very little substance to them, but he did seem to recall seeing some theoretical ideas that had never been implemented in the final Arc design.

He had a little bit of time before they returned, however, so he decided to take a few minutes to relax and clear his mind as best he could. Moving to the small refrigerator that stood in the living area of the workshop, he debated for a moment before bypassing his usual scotch for a bottle of water. If he was going to try and fix things, he might as well start where he could. "Hey Jarvis?"

"Sir?"

"Why don't we play a game?"

"As you wish sir, what would you care for?"

"How about some chess?" In response, the holotable flared to life, a holographic chess board appearing, and the seated figure of Jarvis on the other side of the table. Tony grinned as he took in the image of his AI, who was more casually dressed than normal, in jeans and a black t-shirt, the word 'Hacker' emblazoned across it. "Nice shirt."

"Thank you sir."

Grabbing the rolling chair from this desk, Tony pulled it over and sat down. He lost himself in the game easily, because despite however smart he knew he was, he was still playing against a computer that could calculate moves twice as easily than himself. But he did enjoy a challenge, and he did come close to beating the AI sometimes.

Tony was just trying to figure a way out of the pinch Jarvis had caught him in when he heard a pounding on the glass leading down from the main house. Turning his gaze that direction, he saw Carlisle looking frantic. His mind started to fill with dread. This was not going to be good. He quickly opened the door, letting the vampire in. "What happened? Where's Bella?"

Carlisle entered the workshop and turned immediately towards Tony. "I'm sorry Tony, I should have been watching her..."

"Carlisle...tell me what happened," Tony said, his own worry growing. They were just going to the downtown office. What could have gone wrong?

"She went to grab something from her office, I went to look for her and she was gone. Someone took her. There was someone else there, and the scent of chloroform was in the air. I tried to follow them, but they left in a vehicle, and I couldn't follow."

 _Damn_ , Tony thought as he moved around Carlisle to his desk. His own problems were forgotten as he tried to think who might have taken Bella, who could have possibly pulled off taking her right from the complex. Sure he had enemies, it was inevitable being who he was. Business competitors, terrorist groups targeting Iron Man, there was an endless list. 

Fingers flying over the keyboard, he logged into the complex’s security system and pulled up surveillance video for the last few hours. It didn’t take long for him to find the time when Bella and Carlise arrived, and he followed her progress through the office halls towards her own work area.

It was obviously a well-rehearsed moment, as two men appeared from the deserted offices and grabbed Bella, forcing their hand (and presumably a chloroform covered cloth) over he mouth. As she fell limp, one of the men picked up her, racing off camera. Never once did they turn their faces to where they could be seen. They knew how to avoid detection. He followed their progress to a waiting SUV, and watched it speed off towards the compound’s exit.

He started when he felt a touch on his shoulder, turning to find Carlisle's eyes on him, his expression worried, but calming at the same time.

"We will find her Tony. I will return to my home and get my family together. We will try and track her as best we can."

"Thank you Carlisle," Tony responded, genuinely grateful for the man's offer of help. He knew that Bella was just as important to the Cullen family as to him. He watched as Carlisle made to leave the room, but then he turned back.

"Tony, I almost forgot because of what happened. When we were in your office, I was looking at the old model of the original Stark Expo. I noticed something that seemed odd..."

"Odd how?" Tony asked distractedly, it seemed like an odd change of topic considering the circumstances. And besides, he had spent hours looking over that old model his father had built, but had never noticed anything odd about it.

"The set up of the buildings, the lots, it just caught my eye. The way it was designed, when looked at from above, it almost looked like the model of an atom. I thought perhaps it might mean something. We were going to bring it back here for you to look at, but then..."

"I think the original specs are in Jarvis. I'll pull them up."

"Thank you." Carlisle said, then turned and left the room.

Tony turned back to the computer screens, his mind whirling with thoughts. Sitting down he collected and organized his thoughts. There was no way he would be able to get anything accomplished with the jumble of thoughts and emotions running through his mind. So he prioritized. No doubt that if one of his enemies had abducted Bella, it wouldn't be long before he heard something from them. A ransom request, a list of demands. So as difficult as it was, he put aside those thoughts and turned to the next item. If he was going to help Bella, he would have to be at the top of his game, and that meant figuring out how to fix himself first.

"Jarvis?"

"Sir?"

"Do you have the original Expo model specs?"

"I do sir."

"Alright, let's take a look. Set up a manipulatable holographic wire framework, and let's see if we can find what Carlisle saw."

"Processing image."

Tony watched as the data was processed and Jarvis began building the framework. Once it was completed, he pulled over the desk chair and sat down, looking at the image. Turning the image this way and that, he finally flipped it to stand on end and just sat staring at it. He let his eyes unfocus, not seeing the individual details, but the model as a whole.

That's when he saw it. For a moment his mind reeled with the revelation of what he was looking at. His father had repeated in papers and film reels that the future was represented in the Expo, but he had always figured it was just hyperbole. He had never thought there was a literal meaning to it.

"Damn."


	16. Chapter 16

It had been less than a day, but it seemed as if a month's worth of construction had taken place in the spacious area of Tony's workshop. There were boxes spilling out their contents scattered around the room, large pieces of metal tubing and welding gear spread around the place, and piles of rubble from where Tony had been tearing holes through the walls and ceiling. He was working feverishly, trying to construct something that he wasn't even sure would work, on the assumption that a model his father had left behind was giving him clues as to what to do. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it must seem ludicrous, but he kept at it. Right now, it was his only hope of not only getting himself back to full health, but of being fully capable of tracking down and finding out what had happened to Bella. As he worked, he tried to keep his mind off of the worry and anxiety he felt for her, but it kept creeping into his thoughts, and he was mentally kicking himself for allowing things to fall so badly apart that he couldn't even protect her.

Edward had called him shortly after he had begun his project, telling him that Carlisle had informed the family of what had happened, and that they were doing their best to track down Bella and her abductors. They had hopes, between the little Alice's visions, and the tracking skills of Edward and his brother Jasper, of finding her quickly. Tony was grateful for their help. He knew that they had resources of their own, and he hoped that between them and himself (when he finally got up and running) that they would find her quickly, and safe.

"I think we're ready here Jarvis," he said, setting down the welding torch that he had been wielding and pulling the heavy goggles away from his eyes.

"Affirmative sir," the AI replied, and Tony could hear the whirring of the machinery as Jarvis double checked the work.

Pulling off the heavy coat and goggles he had been wearing to protect himself from flying sparks, Tony moved towards the main computer console, fingers flying across the keyboard as he checked over his own math, and the machine's settings. As soon as he thought he was ready enough, or maybe it was that he just couldn't wait any longer, Tony grabbed the small glass prism that would hopefully collect the results of this experiment. Carefully and deliberately, he placed it in the mirrored box that he had designed for it, and made sure it was aligned properly. He only had one shot at this, and he had better get it right.

"Alright Jarvis, game time."

Vaguely, Bella wondered how she seemed to always find herself in these types of situations. She had just entered her office at the Stark Complex, when she felt arms grab her from behind, and before she could even utter a sound, a foul smelling cloth had been clamped over her nose and mouth. That was all she could remember. Then she had woken up in the room she was currently sitting in. She wasn't sure how long she had been locked in that small room now, but had to have been several hours already, maybe even a full day. She had no way to tell, as there was nothing in that bare room for her to be able to tell.

The moment she had woken and fully comprehended what had happened, she immediately began screaming for someone, but no one had come. She hadn't seen anyone since she had woken up. A vain search of the room revealed nothing that could help her escape. She had even tried climbing up the few pieces of furniture in the room (a few sparsely placed metal shelves) to try and climb through the ceiling panels, but that had completely failed.

And so she had sat herself upon the floor, arms wrapped around her knees as she waited for someone to show themselves.

Tony was just finishing the first run of diagnostics on the glowing triangular prism that had been the result of his experiment in plasma acceleration, when the console he was working on showed an anonymous phone call coming through. He flicked the switch to open the channel. "Hello?"

"Hey Tony," the heavily accented voice said through the speakers, and Tony bolted upright, eyes wide with surprise. That was a voice he wasn't soon to forget, but he had thought the man had died in that damned prison.

"You sound pretty spry for a dead guy," Tony said, then flipped the call to mute. "Jarvis, track the call. Find out where the hell he is." Then he flipped it back on.

"As do you Tony. How feels your health?"

"I'm good as ever." He heard the man laugh,

"I bet. I have something you want I think." There was a brief moment of silence, then Tony heard another voice coming from the speakers.

"Tony?" Whatever else she had been about to say was muffled.

"Bella!" A shiver ran through Tony's body. "You bastard, what have you done to her?"

"We have been enjoying company together," Vanko said. "Pretty girl you have Tony."

Tony glanced at the computer monitor, watching as Jarvis tracked the call to it's source. It was bouncing all over the map, as if it had been rerouted through several systems, but he knew if he kept Vanko on long enough, Jarvis would get to its source.

"What do you want?"

"To see you suffer as my family has suffer. And tonight, the world will see the truth of Stark family. Thieves, murderers, at your own show, they will see what criminal you really are."

"Let me tell you something Ivan. As one guy with daddy issues to another. This isn't going to end the way you want it. At the end of the day, I'll still have the Expo, and Stark Industries, and the girl, and you are still going to be a homicidal freak working with stolen tech. Unless you're dead."

"Goodbye Tony." And then the line went dead.

"Jarvis?"

"Trace incomplete sir."

Tony glanced at the screens. Yeah, it was incomplete, but it was close enough. New York. 'At your own show', Vanko had said. The Expo? Tony flipped through the computer, looking for the schedule of the Expo. There it was. Hammer was giving a presentation tonight. Could Hammer have organized Vanko's prison escape, and Bella's abduction? What was he thinking, of course Hammer could.

"Jarvis, get Coulson on the line. Now."


	17. Chapter 17

With a quick phone call to Coulson, Tony updated the SHIELD agent of what was going on, and his speculations that Justin Hammer had somehow orchestrated Vanko's presumed death. He then made a short call to Edward, letting him know about Vanko's phone call, and the fact that Bella was in New York with the maniac. And now Tony stood in the middle of his workshop, shirtless, holding the newly designed RT in his hands. He didn't have time to put together a whole new unit, so he quickly cobbled together a sleeve to hold the triangular prism so that it would fit inside the current circular chestpiece.

Once he removed the chest piece, he figured he'd have approximately 30 seconds to dismantle the current palladium fittings, fit the new sleeve and reinstall the piece before he went into cardiac arrest. So he carefully rehearsed the steps in his mind, preparing himself to do the task as quickly as possible. Finally he decided that he couldn't put it off any longer, and he prepared himself for the task at hand.

"Here we go Jarvis." Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he twisted the metal casing, pulling the piece away from his chest. He immediately felt the first pangs of pain that accompanied the removal of the power source. Working as quickly as he could, he picked up his tool set and began disassembling the piece. It took him nearly 15 seconds to get the original pieces removed, and he could already feel his heartbeat starting to get a little erratic. He kept breathing steadily, and started inserting the makeshift sleeve. Beads of sweat started gathering on his forehead as he worked as fast as he could, making sure everything was connected properly before slipping the glowing piece back into the mounting on his chest.

The RT flickered for a moment, and then it flared with a bright blueish-white light. Tony felt a jolt go through his body, and for a moment he panicked as he feared something might have gone wrong, but then the shocks coursing through his system subsided, and he began to feel the pain slipping away with them. Taking a few breaths, he turned to the small mirror that was set on his desk. The blue and purple lines that had been slowly making their way across his chest and neck pulsed, turning a dark black, but then they slowly started to fade away, finally disappearing all together. So far so good.

"Jarvis?"

"Power output readings are within normal range," the AI responded.

Grabbing the small testing device that he had kept with him the last few months, Tony quickly pricked his finger and waited anxiously for the readings to come through.

"Palladium toxicity is decreasing, sir," Jarvis said, and Tony noted with relief that the readings from the blood test did indeed show a dramatic drop in the poison levels already. That was definitely a good sign. He hoped, however, that his luck would continue. He didn't have time to run all the diagnostics he would like to have done. In a perfect situation, he would have waited several days at least before trying the new RT in action with the armor, but he didn't have that luxury right now. He had to get to New York.

"No time for test runs," he said to Jarvis. "Get the suit ready, I have to get the Expo before it's too late."

Edward was running as fast as he could, Pepper keeping a pretty close pace right behind him. Further back, he could hear the rest of his family running along. After he had gotten the phone call from Tony not too long before, Edward began trying to figure the fastest way for them to get to New York in time to stop whatever it was that the man Vanko was planning. He knew that even running as fast as they could, they would still take several hours to get there, but luckily Tony had come up with a good solution for them. He promised them that a sub-orbital jet, a new toy of Tony's, would be waiting for them at his private airstrip just outside of Los Angeles. The plane would be able to make the 3 hour flight in less than an hour. And so Edward had gathered the family and told them what was going on. Pepper, Jasper, Carlisle, and Emmett had immediately agreed to come with him. At his father's urging, Rosalie, Alice, and Esme stayed behind.

Soon enough, they reached their airstrip, and as promised, the jet was waiting for them on the tarmac. They quickly boarded, and in just a few moments, they were in the air. The pilot informed them that the flight would be approximately 48 minutes, and so the five of them sat down and began discussing what their plan would be once they arrived.

After a few moments, Edward's cell phone rang. "It's Tony," Edward said as he flipped it open. "Tony?"

"Hey, did you get to the plane?"

"We're in the air now. Where are you?"

"On my way to New York. Tell Carlisle thanks for the tip. The new RT works like a dream."

"He'll be glad to hear," Edward said with a nod towards his father, who looked partially relieved at the news.

"Gotta fly. See you at the Expo." With that, the connection went dead, and Edward slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Well, that's at least one problem solved," he said.


	18. Chapter 18

The flight seemed to take forever, but within just under an hour, the jet that Tony had provided for them had landed at a private airstrip just outside of New York City. Edward and the rest of the Cullen family immediately deplaned, and gathered their bearings. And then they were running as fast as they could towards Queens. All they knew was that the man who had kidnapped Bella was planning some kind of spectacle at the Expo, so that should be their first stop. Hopefully, they would meet Tony there.

As they neared the crowd-filled park of the Stark Expo, they were forced to slow their pace, though they still hurried a little faster than they would normally have moved among humans. Tony had told them to head towards the main stage, as he believed that was where the action would be taking place. As they approached, Edward caught sight of the red-haired woman that he had seen at Tony's birthday party, the one who had been at Tony's side with her arm in the gauntlet of the suit. A quick scan of her thoughts, and he was moving towards her side.

"Natasha Romanoff", she said as he reached her side.

"You're a SHIELD agent." Edward responded, and the woman nodded. "Do you know what they're planning?"

"No. Tony just told us to get out here. That he think Hammer is working with Vanko. I'm just about to go inside. Hammer is about to start his presentation."

Edward turned towards his family, letting them know he was going to go into the main hall with Natasha, and having them spread out around the area and start looking for Bella. Then he and the SHIELD agent made their way through the bustling crowd, finding themselves a good vantage point to watch the main stage, where Justin Hammer was just starting his presentation.

It was obvious even to Edward that Tony had been right on the money. Those drones that Hammer was presenting as the next evolution of military technology definitely had the type of technology that had only been seen before in Tony's suit, and in Vanko's crude version in Monaco. The several banks of armored drones standing on the stage looked menacing, and Edward carefully scanned the thoughts of the man on stage to try and determine if anything more the corporate espionage was in play. Unfortunately Hammer seemed entirely engrossed in his own ego to think about anything other than the presentation that he was giving.

Suddenly the roar of thrusters came from overhead, and Edward glanced up in time to see Tony in the Iron Man armor streaking down towards the stage. The crowd erupted into cheers as he landed, jumping to their feet and applauding at the unexpected appearance of the man whose name graced the event. But Tony had little attention to give to the audience, instead scanning the banks of drones before approaching Hammer.

"Where is he?" Tony barked at Hammer, who had the audacity to look confused.

"Wha...I don't...what are you doing here buddy?" Hammer stuttered out.

"Vanko, I know you busted him out of prison. Where are you hiding him?" Tony resisted the urge to reach out and grab Hammer by the collar of his shirt and hoist him off of the ground. He registered Edward making his way up the stage, followed by the red-haired woman he recognized from the party so many days ago. But then his attention was drawn to the rows of drones that had suddenly come to life, the machine guns mounted to their arms raising to point at him. "Get everyone out of here," Tony said to Edward before activating the thrusters on the suit and shooting up into the sky. Moments later, the banks of drones shot up after him.

Edward reached out, grabbing Hammer before he could slip away, his grip strong around the man's arm. He heard his family moving in, drawn by the commotion at the main stage, and he hoped they would help move everyone to safety. He dragged Hammer backstage, followed closely by the SHIELD woman. "Where is Vanko controlling the drones from?" Edward snarled at Hammer.

"This wasn't…they weren't supposed to be active…." Hammer was stuttering, but with a glare from Edward, he was standing over a computer where one of his programmers was furiously scrambling on a keyboard. "The man's going to ruin me...what's he done?" Hammer was muttering to himself as he watched the words flash across the computer.

"Where is he?" Edward said again, the hardness in his eyes finally cutting through Hammer's confidence and self-preservation.

"A warehouse compound...not too far…" but he wasn't able to finish as Edward sped off, having already picked the location from the man's mind. Natasha watched as the vampire moved away, faster than she could hope to follow. But she was sure he would be able to take care of that, she would make sure that Hammer didn't get away.

As Tony flew away from the main stage of the Expo he could hear the drones taking off behind him. Obviously Vanko had used Hammer's resources in order to achieve the means for whatever twisted revenge he was looking for. He spun out of the way as a repulsor blast grazed past him. He led the drones away from the city, not wanting to put any civilian lives in danger. He would kill for a little bit of backup at the moment, but it seemed as if he was going to be on his own. He could only hope that Edward and his family were able get Vanko's location out of Hammer. Glancing down, he saw that he was over a wooded area that seemed to be blessedly free of other people. Quickly he dropped to the ground, dodging the spray of fire from the drones that were following him.

The first drone that landed was quickly dispatched by a repulsor blast, the pieces blown backwards by the force, but another quickly took its place. For several minutes, Tony fought off the various drones, dropping them one at a time. But there always seemed to be another closing in, surrounding him on all sides. Finally he decided to use his Hail Mary. Stopping the blasts, he waited until the majority of the drones were closing in, then raised his arms and spun in a quick circle, activating the powerful laser that cut through the rows of drones to drop them all.

As the drones fell to the ground, sliced cleanly in half by the cutting beam, the suit gave a warning beep. The laser had drained a lot of the power in the suit, and he'd have to be careful now to make sure he didn't overtax the new and untested RT. As he was about to take off back to the Expo, the HUD told him that a call was incoming, when he switched on the line, Vanko's voice stopped him in his tracks.  
"Impressive Tony," the accented voice came over the line. "Problems solved?"

"Just got one left to deal with," Tony replied. "So why don't you come out of hiding?"

"Happy to do." As the line went dead, the roar of thruster packs filled the air, and Tony jumped back as the heavily armored form of Ivan Vanko dropped down in front of him. The armor suit he was wearing was obviously designed off the same base as the Iron Man armor, only bulkier. And judging by the style of weapon he employed at Monaco, Tony expected a few surprises.  
"Where is Bella?" Tony demanded, his arms raised towards Vanko in preparation of the anticipated attack.

"Safe enough," Vanko replied. "Your pale friend was tearing through guards. But you need not worry, you end here." With that, Vanko lashed out, the electrified metal whip shooting from the arm of his suit towards Tony.

Edward raced through the halls of the complex that he had identified in Hammer's thoughts. There were guards, but they were easily enough avoided or knocked out without a problem. And while he had hoped to the psycho who had kidnapped Bella, he had seen him rocketing out of the building previously, and assumed he was on his way towards Tony. But the man could take care of himself. Right now, Edward had only one goal.

He knew Bella was here. He could identify her unique scent amongst the tangling web of other smells in the building. Eventually he came to a heavily secured door. With no effort he ripped the door from its hinges, the locks flying apart as they were pulled in half. Before he could even move two steps into the room, a small brunette form had jumped into his arms and wrapped herself around him.  
"I've got you," he whispered, wrapping his arms around the trembling figure and holding her close. "You're safe now."

Bella pulled back slightly to meet his gaze. "Thank you Edward….he's crazy. He's obsessed with Tony." Her eyes darted behind Edward as if looking for the other man.

"He's ok," Edward said, hoping he wasn't lying. "He's fighting off Vanko's drones. Let's get you out of here and to safety." Without letting her down, Edward turned and quickly made his way from the building, his heart lighter with his relief at finding her safe.

Outside of the building he was met by the rest of his family. Pepper immediately ran up to them, throwing her slim arms around the both of them. "Oh thank God," she said, her lips turning up into a smile. Edward gently let Bella down, pressing her into Pepper's arms.

"I've got to go help Tony," he said, giving Bella a reassuring smile before running off in the direction he had seen Vanko rocketing.


	19. Chapter 19

Tony had to admit that he was starting to get worn out, even as the persistent display in the HUD was telling him that the power levels on the suit were draining a little quicker than he liked. The new RT was working great, but the suit itself wasn’t calibrated to the type of power that it was putting out. It would be something he would have to work on when this was all over. The eternal optimist, he mused to himself as he dodged away from that blasted whip again.

Firing off a quick series of repulsor blasts, he moved quickly to get behind Vanko. He fired constant shots to keep the other man off balance as he tried to find some weakness in the armor that the man had designed for himself. But even Tony had to admit that Vanko had done a damn good job of his design, and Tony was having difficulty figuring out how he could beat the other man. It was quickly reaching a point where he wasn’t sure how much long he could keep going.

A moment of slipped concentration and Tony found the metal whip wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides. The electricity crackled around him, causing the metal to start to crackle and smoke. He pushed against the confining chain, trying to break free, but was unable to get away. And moments later the second chain wrapped itself around him. He could hear Vanko laughing, and he raced through his thoughts, trying to figure a way out of this trap. With his arms pinned down, he couldn’t aim repulsor blasts that would do any good. He briefly considered firing the chaff, that might free him, but the proximity would certainly do some damage.

The face plate on Vanko’s suit slid up, revealing the smirking face of the other man. “Too slow Tony,” he drawled with a laugh. Giving a yank on the chains, he pulled Tony to his knees, drawing him closer, the metal constricting even tighter around the armor. Tony strained against the metal confines, pushing every bit of strength he had into trying to break free.

It seemed that he was well and truly caught. But just as he was starting to give up hope, a white blur flew past him, and the chains snapped, dropping to the ground around him. Tony smirked, having a pretty good idea of what just happened, even though Edward himself wasn’t in evidence. And the shocked look that crossed Vanko’s face was quite good to see.

With a blast from his thrusters, Tony jumped to his feet, taking advantage of Vanko’s surprise to shoot off a couple of repulsor blasts towards the man, knocking him backwards. “I’ve still got a couple of tricks up my sleeve,” Tony jibed. The scowl that crossed across Vanko’s face showed that he was starting to get under the man’s skin. Maybe that was going to be the weakness he was looking for, the man’s anger over his own shortsightedness. “Guess you haven’t thought of everything, huh?”

The faceplate of Vanko’s shut clanged shut, and the man launched into a series of vicious attacks, his movements beginning to show the unleashed anger that was beginning to flow. But with the whips out of the way, it was much easier for Tony to dodge and avoid the increasingly clumsy attacks. The man’s rising anger was obviously starting to affect his motions. A few more shots fired off, and Vanko’s suit started to give way, until finally the torso piece cracked in half, falling away.

“It’s over Vanko,” Tony said, coming to stand in front of him, the faceplate on the helmet sliding up as he approached the fallen man. He could see in the other man’s eyes that he knew there was no way he was going to win now. But then the corners of his lips turned up in a malicious smirk. Tony felt his stomach drop, knowing there was something not right.

“You lose,” he croaked out, his eyes staring directly into Tony’s. Suddenly Tony heard beeping coming not only from Vanko and his suit, but from all of the broken drones laying around the area. It only took a moment for Tony to register what was happening. And by the time the thoughts had formed in his head, Edward was standing at his side.

“She’s safe, she’s with my family,” Edward said, answering the question in Tony’s thoughts. “These things are about to blow, you need to get out of here, follow me.” He waited a moment for Tony to get airborne, then he ran, knowing Tony would be able to follow him well enough. Moments later the drones began exploding, lighting up the sky. In the distance, Edward could see explosions from the drones that had been felled by Tony before he’d reached the final battleground, as well as the drones that had still been at the Expo main stage. He only hoped that everyone had been cleared out before they went.

The Cullens and Bella had made their way back to the Expo main stage, figuring that would be the most obvious place to meet up with the rest of their party. Bella sat on the deserted steps, Pepper next to her with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She was fighting hard to shake off the lingering sense of panic and fear. But until she saw Tony, safe and sound, she knew it would be difficult to do.

“Hey,” Pepper said softly, giving her a light squeeze. “You’re alright. And with Tony and Edward together, that psychopath doesn’t stand a chance.” She gave a soft smile, and Bella nodded, knowing that she was most likely right.

“I know, I just worry,” she said with a sigh. Carlisle had briefly mentioned about Tony making a new RT, and she hoped that perhaps more than one problem would be solved here tonight. But he didn’t have any details, so she wasn’t sure what to think just yet. She turned back to Pepper to say something else, when the electronic sound of machines beeping started up around her. She glanced about in confusion, seeing the other Cullens doing the same. It only took a moment for her to realize that the sound was coming from the motionless drones on the stage, and the few that had fallen to the ground around the plaza. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Wha…” but before she could finish, the sound of thrusters drowned out the other sounds, and Tony came to land just in front of her. She felt the chill of the metal as an arm wrapped around her waist.

“These things are set to blow,” she heard him say. “Get out of here.” And then she scrambled to cling to him as the thrusters on the suit fired and they rose up into the sky, rocketing away from the plaza. Moments later, the orange flare of several explosions lit up the sky, the booming thunder that followed deafening, even over the roar of flight.They flew on for several more seconds, before landing on a rooftop. She felt herself being gently lowered, and she quickly found her footing.

“Tony, I…” she began as the faceplate of the armor slid up. She faltered, shocked to see tears brightening Tony’s eyes. Reaching up a hand, she brushed her fingers across his cheek. “It’s alright Tony. I’m alright.” She dropped her hand down, hey eyes following, to the light shining from the chestpiece of the armor. “Are you…” she trailed off.

“I’m fine Bella,” Tony said, his voice steady despite the tremble of moisture in his eyes. He pulled her back into his arms, head bending to rest against her neck. “I was so scared,” he admitted in a whisper. “I can’t lose you. Not to him….and not to my own stupidity.” He pulled back, and Bella could see the pain written across his face. Leaning up, she pressed her lips against his.

“You haven’t,” she said quietly. “You won’t.”


	20. Chapter 20

Bella stood leaning against the rails on the balcony, looking out over the Pacific as the sun slowly fell beyond the horizon. In the few days since they returned from New York, she and Tony had settled back into some semblance of everyday life. The change is Tony was beyond question. With the new RT that he had designed, the blood poisoning that was slowly sapping the life from him had been completely reversed, and he was becoming more like the Tony she knew in her first few weeks of being in Los Angeles. A ready smile, the flash of humor that would light up blue eyes, the quick wit that had her falling overself (more than was normal) when she was around him. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was still more happening that was just beyond her perception.

She heard the door behind her slide open, but she didn’t turn. A few moments later strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her up and back against the broad chest of the man who had been occupying her thoughts.

“Is he gone?” Bella asked. A few hours earlier the director of SHIELD had shown up at the house to talk to Tony about whatever crazy project he had been trying to convince Tony to join. She had chosen to seek the solitude of the balcony while they spoke, wanting to get away from the insanity of the superhero stuff for the time being.

“Yeah,” Tony replied, leaning down to rest his chin against the top of her head. “Don’t worry, he decided that my personality is too ‘difficult’ to have as a permanent member of his team. Said he wants me to be strictly advisory.” She felt the chuckle rumble through his chest. “I figure that means work out the really tough problems, and give them a lot of money and or new tech when they need it.”

Bella felt the corner of her lips turn up in response to his words. For all his protesting that he didn’t want to be involved with the group, she knew at heart he was more than willing to do his part. And she knew that the events they had face the last few months would not be the last time they would face some kind of danger. His position pretty much promised that. And she would never think of asking him to give up being Iron Man for her. And she wouldn’t want him to. Even with the danger it added to them. She sighed, her shoulders dropping with the breath.

“What is it Bella?” Tony asked, concern coloring his voice.

“Nothing really,” she said, turning in his arms to face him and wrapping her arms around his neck as she looked up at him with a small smile. “Just so much has happened in the last few days. Still trying to process it all I guess.” She didn’t resist as he tilted her face up and pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss, his hand sliding over her cheek.

As they broke apart, he smiled down at her with his crooked grin. “I know,” he said. “Bella…” he faltered for a moment, eyes falling closed as his head fell. “I put you through so much pain the last few months. I’m…”

She pressed her fingers against his lips, silencing the apology before it could form. “I know,” she said. “But that’s past. It’s time to heal and move forward.” She rested against him, turning her head to lay her cheek against his shoulder. She felt his hands slide through her hair and around her back, and for a few minutes they just stood in silence, enjoying the closeness as they had several times over the last few days. After being kidnapped, and almost blown up, she found these quiet moments to be something to savor, and Tony seemed to understand with her saying that she needed them. He seemed content enough to just hold her when she needed it.

She would have been content to spend the rest of night just relaxing in Tony’s embrace, but her eye caught the clock in the window, and she sighed again. Edward and a few of the others were due to arrive shortly Tony followed her glance and grimaced. “Can’t we just tell them to go away?” Tony said in a half-joking manner.

“Edward said he had something important to talk to us about,” Bella responded as she reluctantly pulled away from Tony’s embrace and walked back into the house.

“Fine,” he responded as he followed her in. “But I’m going to spend the whole time thinking about what I’m going to do with you once we’re alone again.” 

Bella turned to find him smirking. “And Edward will be listening to every thought.”

“Well that sounds like a ‘him’ problem,” Tony laughed with a shrug of his shoulders.

Bella just rolled her eyes and shook her head. Tony never seemed to get tired of antagonizing Edward, even though the actual jealousy aspect that had existed the first few meetings between the two had disappeared. She was thankful for that, at least, as it would have made it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain a friendship with the Cullens while being involved with Tony. And she was grateful to have a friendship with the vampire family again.

She was pulled from her thoughts as the sound of the door buzzer went off, alerting them to the Cullen’s arrival. The door clicked open, and Bella smiled as Edward, Pepper, Alice, and Jasper came in. She found herself engulfed in the arms of the pixieish vampire, whom she hadn’t seen since before the fiasco with Vanko.

“Bella!” she squealed as she hugged her friend. “I’m so glad you’re alright.” Alice said as released her and hugged Tony as well. Bella smiled as she noticed Tony’s slight discomfort at the show of affection. He still wasn’t quite used to the enthusiasm of the small vampire girl.

With a bit less bouncing, Pepper hugged both Bella and Tony, before the group settled on the chairs and sofa that were in the living room. Jasper sat in one of the plush armchairs, with Alice balanced on the wide arm, while Edward and Pepper sat next to each other one one of the sofas. Bell and Tony took the other.

“You said there was something you wanted to talk to us about?” Bella asked, her trepidation from when the meeting was initially requested making its way back into her thoughts. It never ended well when someone wanted to meet like this, and she was worried.

“Relax Bella,” Edward said with a soft smile, not needing to be able to read her thoughts in order to see the apprehension she had. 

Bella took a few deep breaths, steadying her emotions, then felt a calming wave settle over her. She glanced at Jasper who merely quirked a blonde eyebrow at her as his lips twitched in silent amusement. She glanced at Tony, who was had never experienced Jasper’s abilities first-hand. If he felt the same wave of calm that Jasper sent to her, he showed no outward signs of it.

“There really is no need to be worried Bella,” Pepper said with a small laugh. “To be honest, I don’t even know why Edward is making this a thing, except maybe a lingering feeling of guilt,” she glanced towards him as she said it, her eyes soft as she regarded him.

“Guilt?” Bella asked, looking between the two of them. The soft look shared between them, the way they sat close enough that their limbs brushed against each other… “Wait,” she said, her breath catching slightly. “Are you...are you two…?” She felt Tony tensing beside her slightly, then relaxing.

“Bella,” Edward started. “I had told myself I would never….that after you I wouldn’t.” He faltered, seemingly lost for words.

“You know he practiced this speech twenty times over,” Alice said with a tinkling laugh, causing both Jasper and Pepper to chuckle at the embarrassment of the bronze-haired vampire.

“Oh Edward,” Bella said, holding in her own chuckle. “Don’t tell me you’re feeling guilty because you found someone else!” She laid a hand across Tony’s knee next to her, feeling his arm slide around her shoulders, though he remained silent. She glanced over at him, seeing that he was watching Pepper, his eyes narrowed slightly. She worried what he might be thinking, but she would talk to him later Turning back to Edward, she smiled. “You don’t have to spend the rest of your life being sad and alone because we weren’t meant to be.”

Edward mumbled something Bella couldn’t hear, but seemed to make Jasper laugh and Alice roll her eyes. At a murmur from Pepper that was also out of her range of hearing, Edward sat up a little straighter, turning his hand to take Pepper’s in his, interlacing their fingers. “You’re not bothered by this?” Edward said, his eyes on Bella. As she started to shake her head, Bella was stopped from responding by Tony finally speaking up next to her.

“Are you happy Pep?” Tony asked, his voice lacking its usual sureness.

“Yes Tony,” she responded, her gaze soft despite the redness that still lingered from her young vampiric nature.

Bella glanced back at Tony, and saw him nod his head once in a sort of ‘that’s final’ way. Then his eyes turned on Edward, and when he spoke again, his voice was harder than Bella had heard it in a while. “You better not hurt _her_ ,” he said, his arm sliding around Bella’s shoulders and holding her against his side, the threat, while unrealistic, implicit. Bella knew how much Pepper meant to Tony, and Edward seemed to understand as well, as he did not react badly to the words.

“I won’t Tony,” he said, his voice even. Releasing Pepper’s hand, he stood slowly, and Tony rose to face him. 

Bella held her breath as the two men faced off, and she glanced at Jasper who seemed relaxed. That was enough to reassure her. She assumed his presence here was for this very purpose. Her gaze going back to the two men, she smiled as she saw Tony extend his hand for Edward to grasp. A brief shake, then they broke apart. Tony glanced back at her, gave a smile, and excused himself, leaving the group and heading down the stairs to his workshop.

Bella released the breath she had been holding, then stood and gave Edward a tentative hug, which he retuned. “I’m happy for you Edward, really,” she said as she pulled away. She noticed Pepper had disappeared, likely following Tony to talk to him. She smiled as she looked between the three vampires. Maybe happy endings were possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, seriously. Wow. This fic was literally 10 years in the making. When I started writing it, I was single, working a dead-end job, with little more than a high school education. Now I'm happily married, have 3 degrees, and a wonderful career as a teacher. I put it down for so long because I had just lost my muse after some mental health crisis. But over the years I would continue to get reviews and feedback from people who found the story and just loved it and wanted more. It was you guys who stuck with it, and those who found it years after I had abandoned it, that encouraged me to buck up and finish. Thank you 
> 
> Who knows, maybe after I take a break, I'll come back and try to pick back up with the lives of Bella, Tony, and the Cullens for a third part in the "Affairs of the Heart" series. But not yet. I have a few plot bunnies in other fandoms I need to hash out.
> 
> Please, let me know how you liked the ending of "Chains". I struggled with it so much, trying to refind my muse. I hope I did the story justice, and that you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Cheers my friends. What a ride it's been!
> 
> Love, Erik


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